All companies go through periods when they review their branding and marketing materials, including how their logo looks. Usually these reviews result in superficial changes like setting new goals, changing the company’s branding statement or switching up the fonts on a marketing brochure. While there might be some minor impacts from any of these changes, none would be considered “earth shattering”.
Occasionally, bigger things DO come out of these periods, like the decision to revamp the whole look for a company. That can be as simple as tweaking what you already have, freshening it up, so to speak. Sometimes it means turning to your advertising and marketing agency, even hiring one for the first time, to help you reinvent how your brand is presented to customers and clients.
Sometimes (drum roll, please!) it even means changing your logo. Yes, the logo you originally created to try and explain to people who and what you are on their first impression. The very logo that adorns your building, your business cards, your letterhead and for some companies, their vehicles. Yes, the very thing that is supposed to embody your company might actually need to be changed to better reflect who you are now.
First, don’t fret the decision. Plastic surgery is an extremely lucrative industry in America – people are always changing how they look and there’s no need for that to be any different for a business. My question to you is, “If your logo is designed to represent who you are, are you the same company you were when you decided on your current logo?” In many cases, probably not.
As a marketing advisor I understand that changing a company’s logo has many more costs than just the creation of a new logo. It can be expensive changing all of the companies signage, all of the letterhead/business cards/brochures you use, repainting your company’s vehicles, etc. But, is it worth it if it gives potential customers a better representation of your business? Oftentimes the answer is “yes”.
So, here are five situations in which you might find your company that would suggest a logo change might result in a boost in your business:
- New technology
As Mark described in his article, many companies are changing their logos to better adapt to today’s world of mobile phone usage. While it might not be worth completely changing your logo, if you answered “no” to any of Mark’s four questions it might be worth looking at tweaking your logo to better fit all mediums being used today. - A change in mission
Is your company doing the same thing it was when your current logo was launched? Do you have the same services, the same products, you did at that time? If not, a new logo can better represent who and what you are today. - Acquisition/Merger
Has your company’s composition changed since you launched your previous logo? Acquisitions and mergers allow a business to look at who and what each entity is and redefine who they are as a whole. Sometimes a name change prompts a new logo, other times it’s a change to the core values of a company thanks to its new partner. - New owners
New ownership is the perfect time to design a new logo and to give a company a whole new brand, especially if there’s new opportunity presented by the new owners. - Legal age
Whether you define “legal age” as 18 (to vote and serve in the military), 21 (to drink) or 26 (when you can finally kick your kids off of your insurance), if your logo is that old you should at least review it to see if it still completely represents your company. “Current” and “hip” design from 1995 might not be the most cutting edge thing in 2015, even if that logo is still defining who and what you are today.
As always, if you feel that you need to review your current logo we at Absolute Marketing Group can help you out. Our design team has hundreds of logos in the market that they’ve designed (they are easy to spot–they are the cool and hip logos!), and we can help you transition all of your marketing and branding materials into a new era for your company.
An era that better represents you.