Question

Topic: Branding

Logo & Brading Confusion

Posted by Anonymous on 7/5/2005 at 2:03 PM ET 125 Points
The copamy I work for has had a new logo for the past two years. It is very different in color and shape from the previous one. As we strive to market our services through branding; one concern has arise. We use the round logo for letterheads, business cards, website, etc. and use 3/4 of the logo on folders, price list front page, binders... Picture the logo like this: at the bottom left side of a presentation folder a 3/4 of the logo (round vith a V in the center) the back of the presentation folder it has the other portion of the logo on the right lower corner and in the center of the back of the folder a small version of the whole logo is placed.

As we want to market our brand, is it wrong to modify the logo like we did for our presentation folders, binders and price lists? should we keep our logo standard for better logo branding?

Do you have any samples of successful companies that have a logo and also market their logo in other shapes and forms?

Any comments?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by wnelson on 7/5/2005 at 3:39 PM Member
    Mezzanotte,

    Consistency of brand is very important to establishing brand recognition. By modifying it as you have for presentation folders, you risk the chance of dilluting your efforts and in effect promoting two logos for your brand. This isn't so bad if you have a brand extension - an off-shoot to the main brand, where the main brand is known and you want to play off that renown to promote your extension..but I am reading into your question that this isn't the case. I would recommend standardizing on one logo and staying consistent.

    And since I can't think of anyone who has a logo and has changed it to different shapes for different cases, I am suspecting that it's not done much for the reasons I discussed above. The most that I have seen is a different color - the Nike Swoosh is in white, blue, red, etc. The shape stays the same. Lucent never plays with shape or color for their circle thing. Maybe some of my esteemed colleagues can think of some companies that have been successful at this.

    Hope this helps.

    Wayde
  • Posted by Markitek on 7/5/2005 at 4:17 PM Member
    Don't mess with the logo. Not only is it weak marketing but it will cause you nothing but grief operationally. You can make it larger and smaller, you can make it color or grayscale, but don't change it. Think of what happens when two different documents with two different logos from the same company are viewed together. Nothing but confusion.

    Logos are like spouses.

    One at a time.
  • Posted on 7/6/2005 at 12:28 AM Member
    using two or changing again ur comapny logo will confuse your customer. because we know that the logo acts as the unique trademark for your company. it will be risky to use other logo for same company, unless you are repositioning your comapany.


    angel
  • Posted by ReadCopy on 7/6/2005 at 5:17 AM Accepted
    Good question, and I agree consistancy is everything, but creativity in literature production is also important, as it engages the market.

    One business i worked with did something similar, creativity it was brilliant, customers still recognised the core business logo which is known and trusted, so still had confidence in it.

    To answer your question: its fine to do what your company has done. Look at what Google do with their logo on special occasions (https://www.google.com/intl/en/holidaylogos.html) their brand hasn't suffered, infact with engaging the market (which all brands should aim to do), it probably build a bigger following!
  • Posted by chough on 7/7/2005 at 7:33 AM Member
    I think the answer is in creating a set of rules for usage of your logo, and other elements that support your brand, such as typeface, typography, colour pallete, photography, tone of voice of copy etc.
    This will set out what you can do with your logo, and what are the definite no-nos! It is not a problem to have different versions of your logo for different executions, but this needs to be assessed properly, and applied consistently, to support your brand.
    Basically you need a corporate identity manual, BUT not some huge ringbound document that sits on a shelf and is never referred to! A quick reference, "do & don'ts" guide should suffice. It could even be prepared electronically, (PDF is ideal) and sit on everybody who needs its computer, or be part of your intranet if you have one.
    The company that designed your corporate id should be able to create an approriate document.
  • Posted by Mushfique Manzoor on 7/12/2005 at 9:38 AM Accepted
    hi there

    great response from experts. AndrewS has given an excellent example.

    how is your original logo perceived for the last 2 yrs? how good is the recall of the logo?? does the target audience associate your original logo with your brand values? how about your partial/tinkered logo perceived by target audience, are they confused? can they associate it with the original logo?

    these are questions that need to be answered before you decide whether keep on changing the logo like google or keep one single logo.

    most of the brand/logos have a guideline/manual of dos and donts. like 'Chough' mnetioned this will be handy referral. as you can see even google, despite changing its logo for a few days of the year, have kept the basics of the logo, the font, typeface, size, "at least one letter of the logo remains same with originial in case of modifications", same all the time. and google could afford to tinker with their logo a few times a year, becoz the logo viewed a million times everyday and 365 days of the year, the original logo is constantly in front of people. Google logo has the 'muscle' to make some tinkering for a few days in a year.

    so, IMHO, first you measure your original brands current status and effectiveness in communicating. if it lacks that 'muscle' then first build that 'muscle', use only one logo, original, to create brand awareness, recognition, recall and association. then based on that 'muscle' you can tinker.

    hope this helps.

    cheers!!
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