Fun fact: The unusual story behind the ANSR logo

What’s in a logo? After all, isn’t it just a graphic that identifies a brand? Not really. More than just being the most recognizable visual representation of a brand, a logo is the unspoken voice of a business. It carries a brand message. It tells a story. Over the years, I have heard many great stories about brand logos, so compelling that sometimes I wonder if these stories are true or if they are urban legends. 

 Creating a logo is no child’s play. There’s a lot of strategic thinking and research going into creating a logo that makes an impact. The companies we discuss in this article have had diverse considerations when seeking inspiration for the perfect logo, such as: the psychology of their consumers, their brand’s core values and the message they want to send to customers.

When I talk about the logo story, Domino’s, Chupa Chups and Baskin Robins are the ones that come to the top of my mind. They are fairly unique and are able to tell their story or describe their offerings and value proposition very clearly.

I read about Domino’s when I was preparing notes to speak to the undergraduate management students at a leading college for women in India. I was talking to them about what is brand, what are its elements and how can organizations look to create a unique brand. Domino’s, started by two brothers, Tom and James, was called DomiNick’s until James traded his half of the business to Tom for a Volkswagen Beetle. The rest is history, for Tom was a pioneer and visionary who grew the brand by leaps and bounds, which’s now known to us as Domino’s.

 So how did the brand get its logo? Well, after buying out his brother’s share, Tom decided to capitalize on the pizza’s delicious taste and started franchising. His initial idea was to add a dot to the logo for every store he opened, but his idea quickly faded as Domino’s experienced rapid growth. So after a year, the famous logo was left with three dots symbolizing the three additional stores Tom opened that year. They have retained the three dots despite growing multi-fold over the last 5 decades.

 Chupa Chups is an extremely interesting story, too. The Spanish lollipop company’s logo is truly unique since it was designed by the famous surrealist artist Salvador Dalí in 1969. He started with a bright coloured daisy design to draw attention. When he realized that it fits perfectly on top of a round lollipop when centered on the wrapper, Mr. Dali suggested this placement so that it always remains prominent.

 In the case of Baskin Robins, Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins, the two brothers-in-law, started their separate ventures of selling ice cream in 1948-49. They were merged and named as the Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream in 1953. A local advertising agency recommended them the "31?" logo, representing a flavor for every day of the month. The advertising agency, Ogilvy and Mather later cleverly re-designed the logo, highlighting the number 31 in the name.

 During one of my recent office calls, I was listening to the founder and CEO of ANSR, Lalit Ahuja, talk passionately about the brand logo and its origins. After they set up a Global Capability Centre (GCC) for their first client, ANSR decided to brand themselves as a pioneer in setting up and running GCCs for large global customers. A quick introspection of the brand revealed that as an organization, ANSR was an extremely client-centric and inclusive organization, where the customer’s views, perspectives, culture, values, and vision were given utmost importance. So, they wanted a logo that could describe all these elements effectively. If you take a closer look at ANSR’s logo, you will notice that they comprise of quotation marks in a concentric circle pattern. The concentric pattern is to help our customers hit bull's eye every single time, where we set them up for success. The red quotation marks signify the company’s inclusive and collaborative nature when working with customers. There is a Grey quote mark that symbolizes the unique points of view the customers can benefit from ANSR’s experience of working closely with organizations while setting up their remote strategic centers. The brand color is red and it is an attractive, energetic, and powerful colour. Whether used alone or as an accent colour, Red is a powerful choice for a logo colour. It brilliantly represents ANSR’s authority and leadership in the industry, while Grey hints at the brand’s inclusive and collaborative nature.

 What all this means is, a well-thought-through logo not only get attention, but it also gets the brand etched in people's mind forever. Most famous logos that we know today are an amalgamation of the great stories, big dreams, and creative minds behind the brand it represents. Also, logos that have an interesting story to tell stand the test of times.

What’s your favorite logo story?