Changing Your Logo? What You Need to Consider

Your logo is the visual connection to your company, your brand. It is the public mark or symbol that your audience immediately recognizes and emotionally connects to or abandons depending on the quality and feeling it emanates. Your logo validates who you are, if you feel real, legit. 

Redesigning your logo is major decision - or least should be. One that could make or break the forward momentum you are trying to achieve with its change. Before deciding to update your logo consider the following:

1. What's your reason(s) for changing the logo?  

A whim? - or based on one person's opinion? In our experience working with high tech B2B companies, here's a few good reasons for changing your logo:

• It no longer represents what your company does/stands for
• It looks unprofessional
• It feels outdated
• It’s poorly executed
• You want to emphasize a new direction

2. Logo refresh or redesign – what's the difference?

Refresh

How connected is your audience to your current logo? If you have been around for awhile and there is a strong bond between your audience and your logo then a complete redesign may be risky. You don’t want to lose that connection. You may want to consider just giving your logo a little facelift. For example, you could change the font, add an accent color, simplify it, make it shinier. Sometimes even the simplest changes can make a logo feel more current and still be recognizable.

Redesign

If there is no connection between your logo and your audience then a “redesign” may make the most sense. Start over. Analyze what's wrong with your current logo and what you'd like to represent in the new logo.

3. Big picture cost – understand the budget drivers.

In addition to changing your logo you will also need to change everything that has your logo on it - business cards, website banners, tradeshow booth displays, signage... With a “refresh” you may be able to just update things as you move forward, but with a “redesign” you will want to add your new logo to EVERYTHING you use. 

You don’t want to confuse your audience. You need to reestablish the connection immediately with consistent branding. Make a list of everything that has your logo on it and determine which you plan to continue to use as you move forward and which you may want to retire. (This is a great time to do a little “housekeeping”.) Price out what it will cost and set your budget appropriately and realistically.

4. The launch – doing it right.

Whether you “refresh” or “redesign” you will need to launch a campaign to market your new logo to all current and potential customers. You may even want to engage your audience before the launch date, providing status updates or design ideas for example.  

The launch is another major (and necessary) cost driver so make sure you plan for it in your budget before deciding to change your logo. Promote and communicate your new logo to customers, suppliers, leads, and the public. For example, 

• Create an email/direct mail campaign
• Show the before and after 
• Communicate what the new logo conveys
• Combine it with a promotional offer/discount
• Have a launch party
• Send out a press release

A logo redesign can be exactly what your company needs but make sure you know what you are getting into. Make sure your game plan includes all the stages – the design, the implementation and the launch.