Or can my small business survive without one?
In the purest sense, logos aren’t entirely compulsory to own and operate a business. And there have been businesses that have survived without one, relying instead on a dedicated client base, word of mouth and old-school marketing techniques. If you find that you are neither convinced by the value or the expense associated with a logo, then perhaps you don’t need one. However, let it be told, a logo can assist your business establish itself and what it has to offer to your potential clients. And this will only ever be beneficial to your business.
How many logos do you view a day?
It’s estimated that on a given day the average individual is exposed over 200 brands per hour, whether they are conscious of it or not. If that individual regularly accesses the Internet, that number increases exponentially. The fact is, logos and brands are an ever-present part of daily life. The coffee a person drinks in the morning, the cereal they have for breakfast, the car they drive to work and the hundreds of billboards and signs they drive past on the way to work- everything is branded with a logo.
What a logo means
The term logo is an abbreviation of the word logotype, which is which is defined as ‘a symbol representing a phrase, word, or idea. Throughout time, the logo has represented many ideas. For example, the universal evil of the swastika, or the representation of the better man in the cross of Christianity. The logo has even, at times, represented the most mundane of ideas- the red octagon which signals a person to stop, or the arrow which directs this way or that.
The Big Boys can’t be wrong, can they?
Logos are everywhere. They are, however, particularly present in our commercial endeavors. Logos have come to represent a vast variety of things- a quick meal, sports, soft drinks. Sports teams have sports logos, and rock stars have band logos. Books, cars, clothes, food and entertainment- religion and sex, all of these things are branded by some sort of logo.
The recognition nanosecond
It all comes down to one thing- recognition. In the highly cluttered visual space of the average consumer, you have a nanosecond to grab their attention. It is therefore best to make that nanosecond worthwhile, and original. For example, if the logo you’ve chosen to brand yourself with is also the same logo another twenty or so other businesses have chosen to brand themselves with, the likelihood of your brand sticking out is not very high. If your business is fighting for attention in a dense market of others, that nanosecond of recognition can mean everything.
Attention to the nuts and bolts
In the most basic sense, the benefits of are simple. A well-designed logo on well-designed on a piece of marketing material will stand out against the ones that aren’t as well done. In a time when most promotional material is directed towards the trash, the fight is to be among the .05% that isn’t. However, the benefits run deeper than that. On an instinctual level a well executed logo design will provide your clients with a psychological ‘lift’- it will give off that perception of professionalism and attention to detail.
Conclusion
A professional logo design and corporate identity will only ever be beneficial to your business, just like an essence of professionalism and care can only ever be- if it appears like you take care of your business then it will appear that you take care of your clients, as well. It is an overall image of strength, quality and professionalism that starts the minute your clients are exposed to your business.
In this, our first logo design podcast, we take a look at why starting out right is crucial to the development of your brand, and why taking a “that will do” approach will cost you dearly in the long run. Click on the arrow button to listen.
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The Logo Factor for potential clients and buyers. In the market for a new logo? Thinking about branding that new company, service or product? We’ll help you wade through through what can seem like a daunting design process, from deciding whether you need a logo in the first place, to selecting an appropriate designer, to using your new logo once you’ve settled on a design.
