Your company logo is the face of your business in many cases. Your customers associate your logo with your business – it’s how they remember and recognize you. But what if you chose the wrong logo the first time? Or you just need a more professional logo?
If you’re considering revamping your company logo, you’ll want to think about it a while before making that decision. While there are good reasons to change your logo, it can also have negative consequences on the business. Weigh the positives and negatives before deciding whether or not to change your logo design.
When Should You Change Your Logo
If you want something more professional – This is probably the best reason to revamp your logo. Maybe when you first started, you couldn’t afford a logo designer. Now that you’ve grown, you want your logo to look more professional. Before you totally redesign the logo, see if there’s a way to clean up your existing logo.
If you’ve recently started to target different customers – Maybe you chose a logo that would appeal to a younger demographic when you started and now you’re interested in older consumers. It’s possible that your new target may be more responsive to a new logo. However, your existing clients may be uncomfortable with the change. You might consider creating a “sister brand” to appeal to the new demographic.
You’re changing what you do – When you started, you created wedding dresses, so you made a logo that featured a dress. Now, you’ve started event planning and you no longer feel the dress represents what your business is about. In cases like this, it can be beneficial to update the logo. However, it’s only necessary if you’ve completely stopped doing whatever the original business was about.
Business acquisitions – Your company has recently bought or teamed up with another company. You might be considering a brand new logo to represent the merger or a logo created from both of the old logos. If the other company had a strong brand with many customers, this can be a smart move. A joint logo is likely to attract both of your previous customers to the new brand. However, if one of the companies had a less-than-stellar reputation or a small customer base, sticking with the other logo or rebranding entirely might be in order. For example, Google has made several business acquisitions through the years, but relatively few official logo changes.
When Should You NOT Change Your Logo
Even if you’re experiencing one of the problems above, it may not be time to update your logo yet. Your existing customers already associate your business with your current logo. Getting your customers to understand your rebrand can often be expensive. You may even lose customers who are confused by the change. This can be a risky maneuver for businesses.
If you’re looking for a more professional logo or you just decide you need an update, consider a minor change over something entirely new. If it still looks familiar, your customers are less likely to reject the changes. You’ll also want to hire a designer to handle any logo updates, as a highly professional logo will attract more attention than a poorly designed one.