Branding without a logo: bad idea?

I hosted a roundtable discussion some time ago with a group of designers and business owners about logos.* We generated a lot of wisdom there, and you can read (or download an audio file, even) all about it <a href="http://www.lightfootbranding.com/index.php/articles/launch-ii-report/" title="Report from a discussion on logos for small businesses">here (at Lightfoot Branding: tips on marketing</a>). Do we really need a professionally-designed logos from the get-go? What does it do for your brand? Is a logo different from a brand?  Are logos, and the idea that they "represent you" overrated? These are very important questions, especially for the bizniks. Something that should be answered with honesty and frankness. THE HYPE Everyone has heard some variant of this mantra: "Your logo is the first impression of your company to your prospects. Make it count."  Here is some of the language found through a cursory search on the web: "Logos represent the personality of business - first impressions count, so it is important that your business logo design is professionally designed." -<a href="http://www.magicdust.com.au/">www.magicdust.com.au</a> "As any successful business owner knows, the key to a profitable business is having the ability to create a unique and individual name. ... Perhaps the easiest way to create a unique name for a company is by creating a unique business logo. The business logo is a vital component of a brand's name." - <a href="http://www.ezinearticles.com">www.ezinearticles.com</a> "Your brand is more than a series of words; it is your corporate identity. Your name and logo should tell people who have never been to your establishment something about you. Your brand should be strong enough to convey a message and a feeling..." - <a href="http://www.expresso101.com">www.expresso101.com</a> "The Internet is exploding with burgeoning companies, all vying for that killer logo design. Your image matters. Your logo speaks volumes. Your corporate identity has just a few seconds to impress prospects with your brand. Your logo design is priceless." - <a href="http://www.logodesignguru.com/">www.logodesignguru.com</a> "Your business's logo, marketing materials and website must stand out from the competition so that they can help you make a connection with potential clients."  - <a href="http://www.elf-design.com/">www.elf-design.com</a> Feeling overwhelmed yet? Aside from the confusing interchange of the terms "branding,"  "identity," "names," and "logos", these are mostly benign truisms. Sure, logos are great. But do they really do all that? "The key to profitability"? "Paramount to your success"? While it goes without saying that A GOOD LOGO can help your business tremendously, the opposite is also true: A BAD LOGO can hurt your business. And, what makes a good logo good? There's a lot of gray area between the Great and Terrible Logos. And often these kinds of judgments are subjective. SAY NO TO CATCH-ALL BRANDING First thing first: a logo is not a brand. You don't have a brand until you have customers, a unique service/product, and a clear message. Let's ask a few questions: <ul> <li>Do you know what makes your business unique, and utterly irresistible?</li> <li>Do you know who's listening to you now, and whom you want to talk to?</li> <li>Do you have something to say, and can you say it clearly?</li> </ul> If you answered "no" to any of the above, don't get a logo, until you can answer "yes" to all three of them. Think about it: the answers to these questions are what's essential to controlling that "first impression." No matter how great the logo designer you hire, and how much money you spend, without answering these questions, your logo will not help you create a good impression. Why? Say you need to dress up to go to this party. That's hard to do if you didn't know what the party was, or had a good idea of what kind of outfit would make you look good and feel comfortable, too. The same dress/suit/jeans-and-a-tee outfit can look good or bad depending on TPO, and who you are. Do you buy some fancy designer clothes without knowing what you are buying them for, and whether they fit you? Should you even go shopping before finding out about the occasion and your size? GOING AT IT WITHOUT If all this sounds like too much hard work up front, it is. But, does that mean you just can't do anything until you figure it all out? Not necessarily. You can start right where you are. Go ahead, start talking to people about your business, and see what excites you most about what you tell them. Make some prototypes. Try things. If you already have a business and you are thinking about re-branding, you can start by asking your customers what they see that makes you special in their mind. You might just have to try a few things before you can define your unique skills or attributes that makes your products great. That's okay! As for the logo: why not go without, really? "Oh, you will be buried in the sea of competition." "How can your customers remember you?" I can hear the cacophony of fear-mongers, disguised as common-sense marketing advice. Well. The bad news? Unless you have a multi-billion-dollar budget, and/or your product is so essential to everyone's life, the chances are you won't be remembered by the majority of people, no matter what logo you have (or not). What makes you stand out is what you can do well that no one else can the same way. Over time, these signatures that make you truly unique are what you build your brand around. After all, if everyone has a logo (and unless you can justify what it takes to define what, who and how of your difference, yours will look very much similar to your competitors), how are you going to be noticed by having one? DO IT YOURSELF If you must have a logo, focus on getting some real thinking done around it. Spend as little as possible on the design (keep it simple, and you can probably come up with something decent on your own. That's a topic for another workshop). My one piece of advice, though: whatever logos you use (preliminary or not), make sure YOU like it. Don't worry about what your spouse says. Take the opinion of your customers a little more seriously, but don't just follow their advice blind, either. You have to stand behind it 100%. And repeatedly, too. So do yourself a favor and make it something that you love (and here's why I recommend doing it yourself over hiring someone right out of college for cheap. And, conversely, why you should pay enough to feel you are getting something worthwhile, should you decide to hire someone). And, as you begin to get to know and grow your business, don't be afraid to grow your identity along with it. Go ahead, change the logo when you feel like it. More companies change their look periodically than you might be led to believe. Even when you are in business for a long time, something can change from inside or outside the company that would change its brand strategy. That's life. CHANGING WORLD One more thing. The world of marketing is changing. Newspapers are shutting down, radio stations consolidating. In their place, blogs, social networking sites are becoming more and more relevant (and important!) to your business. The problem with social networks is that it's hard to control your "branding" on them. Sure, you can post your messages, accompanied with the logos, etc. on your profile page, and make it resemble your ads on the billboards. But, exercising these kinds of "control" over your presence there misses the point. Social networks are for connecting with people. Having conversations is what it's about. Without the users' contributions, it's just plain billboards, and billboards are not engaging. You can't control what users will bring up in your conversations with them, either. There lies the biggest challenge of branding in new media, and examples of failed attempts at control or missed connections abound. What we should do in facing this challenge is a wholly another topic, but the point here is that "what your logo looks like" is decidedly not the most important thing in tackling the hurdle of how to get noticed in the new paradigm. As matter of fact, this logo-centric notion of branding inhibits your creativity and the strategic thinking that will really help you market your service and products in this changing world. THE DIALOGUE CONTINUES (I hope!) If you made it thus far, you must really be interested in this subject. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Please comment. * By "logo", I mean anything that marks your business, from trademarks, icons, logotype, to corporate identities. These are, technically, all different, but I am talking about them generally. 2009-06-02T23:41:50Z