Think of your favorite brand. What do you see in your mind’s eye? Is it their logo? Their color scheme? The vibe in their stores? How do you feel when you visit? While those are all instrumental pieces of their brand, if you wanted to spot that brand somewhere (like driving down the road), you’re going to look for their logo. (Roadtrip food stop, anyone?)
Some of the world’s most recognizable businesses are famous for their logos and color schemes. Here’s some examples:
As an entrepreneur, branding is one of the first and most important tasks when starting a business, and the crux of it is your logo. Your logo is your identity when you’re not there; and it serves a purpose as the visual connection to your business, because it should be on everything you do.
Recently, I’ve had a few clients who have wondered if having a logo is right for them and their small business. Every business is different, markets to different audiences, and has different goals; some offer services, some sell products, some do business in person, others market themselves online; so is it necessary that all businesses create a logo?
What defines a logo?
A lot of people think a logo is something that has to incorporate an image or graphic, but not everyone resonates with that. Some say that word-only logos aren’t technically logos since there isn’t a graphic, however, the words and fonts themselves will create the logo and brand your business. This is very common with service based businesses, like coaches and photographers where their name is their business name. There will be times where a stylized name will be powerful enough; think of Coca Cola, The New York Times, and FedEx. None of these have a graphic, yet the consistent style, color scheme and font are enough to make them more than memorable. The reality is that a logo is a piece of artwork – whether it’s text, picture, or graphic-based, ultimately it serves the need of consistently representing your business in print and marketing.
When does it make sense to NOT have a logo?
In my opinion, there really isn’t a situation where a business shouldn’t have some sort of a logo. At a very minimum, you should have some consistent elements that you leverage for branding; using your name in a consistent font, size and color is three-quarters of the way there.
Consider this as an example: A business owner who is using word documents, invoices, etc, and in each document, our business owner just types their name at the top and is inconsistent in font, size, color, and placement. That name at the top is not (what I would consider) a logo, and they’re going to be creating a suite of experiences for their clients that are inconsistent – even if it’s not recognized at the conscious level. If the same business owner created their collateral using the same font, color, size, and placement, that could be considered as using a logo.
The goal? As a business owner, you should consistently represent your business in a way that you are proud of, across every experience.
Keep this in mind: people hire people! If you are creating an inconsistent experience, that will create confusion. Don’t turn off a prospect because every time they interact with your business they aren’t seeing the same identity. In an oversaturated small business world, give yourself the chance to stand out. As your business grows and you gain more clients, you want your clients to know who you are; you want them to recognize your social media, your website, your documents and what better way to do that than by having everything branded and giving you your distinguished look?
Think it may be time to review your logo or branding? Let’s take a look at it together!
I put together a branding questionnaire. It helps you think about some of the important elements of a logo such as logo types and color schemes. If you’d like access and want to have a better understanding of your brand, check it out!
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