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Marketing 101 By Mike French mike@mikefrench.com


Should (or can) You Change Your Logo?


hould or shouldn’t I change my logo?” is a question I get occasionally. It usually comes from someone who has had the same logo for many years and thinks it looks dated, or perhaps they’re just plain tired of it. Sometimes the ques- tion is from someone who has purchased a company with an existing logo and they want to give it a new look to represent the new owners. Or, a company’s market focus has changed and they wish to bring their logo in line with the new market focus. And, of course, there are other rea- sons as well, both negative and positive. Can you change your established logo?


S


Yes you can. Are there inherent risks? Yes there are. I don’t recommend changing an established logo without first carefully considering the pros and cons. Here are a few things to consider. • Have valid reasons. Make sure you have valid reasons for making the change before you change your logo. It may help you to understand a little about human nature, if your reason for changing the logo is mainly because you are just tired of it. Everyone gets tired of things and loves what is fresh and new. In other words your logo may actually be very valid even though you are tired of it. Don’t do something rash that you may regret sim- ply because you are tired of your logo. • How will it affect others? If your com- pany is small, changing your logo may only affect you. But, if you are a large com- pany or an organization with members, it could have a major impact on them. I know of one group that changed their long established logo and it made a huge financial impact on their membership. The change meant that member invoic- es, business cards, brochures, websites, sig- nage, and company vehicles all had to be redone to reflect the change. It was a major expense for the members; and the mother group did not pay for it even though they required the change. And, by the way, if you have any members who


26 Automotive Recycling | March-April 2015


Can you change your established logo? Yes you can. Are there inherent risks? Yes there are.


are on the fence about retaining mem- bership, this may be the tipping point where they decide to bail. • Consider branding value. Before you change your logo, consider its branding value. How much did it cost you for its current branding value and recognition? How may it affect your business if you change it? Know that you will have to start completely over with some of these. Logos can have branding value that may have taken many years and great expense to achieve. Companies like Coca-Cola and Nike (with its famous swish), are just two examples of companies who have logos with instant brand recognition value. These companies have spent a fortune for this value and will fight to retain it. • Consider your trademark. Some com- panies have trademark protected their exact logo image and changing it in any way could mean that it is no longer pro- tected. Make sure you know the legal sta- tus of your logo before you change it in any way. Understand what you can or can- not do; and what you may need to do to protect your new logo.


• Completely change, tweak or update?


Yes, sometimes it is necessary to com- pletely change a logo. For instance, if you purchase a company with a not-so-good reputation, a new name and logo could give a new image. • Be careful. Changing your logo a lit- tle or a lot should not be not be deter- mined by your feelings about your logo but instead by your market’s understand- ing and acceptance of it and the amount of value and recognition you’ve managed to build with it.


Sometimes you can tweak or update an


existing logo and still retain the basic shape or look of it, so that it remains rec- ognizable, retaining its original branding value. Such was done by Apple who changed their rainbow-colored apple icon to a classier solid version; Windows changed their classic Windows icon to a simpler (but very recognizable) version of it. They both just modified their logos without totally getting rid of the look. • Modifying ideas. If you have a well- established logo and plan to change it, there are advantages to doing it slowly with small changes over time. One advan- tage is that you can continue to use up your existing office supplies without hav- ing to throw out and replace. It also gives the marketplace time to adjust. The fol- lowing are some things you can do. Simplify it: Keep the basic shape or rec- ognizable character or symbol of it, but remove anything that is extra and not needed such as drop shadows and shad- ing. Tweak or change the font: This is especially applicable if the name of your organiza- tion is a part of the logo. Do this careful- ly because some logos are recognized by the actual font style. Use different ink colors: Sometimes a logo can retain its recognizable look yet look updated by changing the color scheme. Use as silhouette: Use your known logo as a white object shape silhouette against a solid background color background. You easily retain your recognized logo but give it a brand new look.


There in fact may be some good rea- sons for you to change your logo, but be very careful before you do. It is always best to do so only after much careful planning and execution along with diligent con- sideration of the many pros and cons. 


Mike French, president of Mike French & Company, Inc., can be reached toll free at 800- 238-3934, or visit his company’s Web site at www.MikeFrench.com.


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