How to Know It Is Time for a New Logo

One question we get all the time here at Go Media is: “How do I know it’s time for a new logo?” Today, our President, William Beachy, is addressing this complicated issue.

Here are some points to consider should you be wondering if it’s time for a new logo:

What is your current brand equity?

Whether you realize it or not, your customers know you by your current look, so whether you do a brand refresh or redesign, you need to consider what are the implications are / how your customers are going to react to this change. If you have a sterling reputation and everyone loves you, your customers may not react well to any drastic change. If you decide you want to move forward with a new look, you may want to consider that this brand refresh be a small step in an evolution of your overall appearance. This will ensure you don’t lose that recognition factor.

Starbucks has done a great job of this – they’ve been slowly tweaking over a very long period of time – so much so, that the changes are almost difficult to recognize. If you have a bad reputation, the rebrand could be a good thing. For example, airlines that have had major tragedies have completely rebranded to change their look and reputations. Sporting teams with long histories of losing have rebranded themselves, built new stadiums and hoped that that will usher in a decades of winning. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

What will the impact be?

Consider that changing your branding may impact a lot of your sales collateral, your website. It’s going to take a lot of work (and money) to replace these items. If you’re ready and your brand needs this update, however, you do not need to make the investment up-front. For example, you can update your website first, then worry about your brochures later down the line.

What number of modifications are you looking to make?

There are many components that make up a brand – the mark (what people call the logo), the logo type (the name of the company), the color scheme, and all the collateral elements around that. Sometimes, the mark, the logotype and the color scheme look great and it’s just the collateral elements that looks dated. When you update the collateral, everything suddenly looks much better. Sometimes, however, everything does need an update. It just depends on the quality of the branding work.

How will your staff react?

Ask yourself how the family, ownership and staff will react to a refresh/re-brand. Many times, there will be intense backlash within the company itself in regards to a re-brand. If the branding was created by the company’s grandfather on the back of a napkin, there is often a lot of history and heart there. So if you move forward, you really need to explain to your crew why the re-branding needs to take place and keep them engaged in the process. Other times, a re-brand could bring a big moral boost to the company. Either way, keep your employees engaged and you’ll be much better off.

Now that you’ve considered those points, here are some quick do’s and don’ts when considering a new logo.

Do consider a new logo if if no longer reflects your company’s persona.

If your business has been in business for a long time, and your type treatment/mark no longer feels modern or beautiful, that is a great opportunity to do a brand refresh.

Do consider a new logo if if the branding is just bad: Ugly, overcomplicated, not easily recognized from a distance, etc.

If the brand clearly needs to be rebuilt, we will do the work. In these cases, we often mine design elements from the company’s history. These often help us bring bring their past to the present. In this case, we educate the company about how to introduce the new brand to the company’s customers/clients to ensure there is a smooth transition.

Do NOT consider a new logo if your branding is simply boring you.

If you want to do a refresh/rebrand only because you’re you’re sick of staring at it everyday, resist the urge. Keep in mind that your customers aren’t looking at it as often as you are. They might only see it every three months, six months, every year. Brand consistency is very important. So, just being bored with your brand isn’t a good reason to change it up.

We hope this information helped you to know when it’s time to contact Go Media, the Cleveland logo design firm you know and trust, to help you create the new logo and branding you’ve been jonesing for.

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Have more questions for our team? Please submit them to us at [email protected] and we’ll try to answer them here on our blog or on a Facebook Live.