No logo?

Does your business have one? I can just imagine all the SMEs that don’t say “What for, don’t need one?”

OK, I’ll tell you why it is a good idea to have one.

Branding and identification – if logos were of no use big businesses would not spend money on them.

While working in Germany at a sister company the logo was on the gate, on the building, on the door, entrance mat, across the front of the reception desk, on my cup and saucer when I had a coffee and even stamped on the biscuits. This creates a strong first impression, makes the brand memorable and will be easily recognised in the future.

A logo can increase brand loyalty. Your logo represents your company, its values, and should imply confidence in the quality of product and service. It spreads brand awareness and having it on staff clothing as a badge or onto the shirts and delivery vehicles gives a good impression and will say “professionalism” to your customers or potential clients. A logo will portray you as a reliable and trustworthy business. Use it as a badge of honour wherever appropriate, such as in the corner of your presentation slides, on giveaways such as note pads, pens, flash drives, T-shirts, etc.

The more visible the logo the more it builds trust in your brand. Look at Nike, they don’t need to say anything their logo says Nike for them as everyone recognises it.

Even the colour of your logo is important. You often see a lot of blue as this conveys trust, orange and green are used in food related businesses as these are associated with freshness, red evokes a sense of urgency and yellow optimism and a sense of joy. So you get the idea, depending on the message you want to deliver, select the colour wisely.

A logo also helps with consistency, establishing a strong reputation, maintaining your image and delivering your message. This is particularly important for social media and the various platforms. A logo identifies you to your audience, whether it is on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. a logo ties your posts to your brand. You need to have consistency in the messages you deliver across all the platforms and your logo helps link all your posts together giving clear brand recognition.

A logo underpins your brand. Pictures and images always speak louder than words and an image can evoke memories and emotions but it can’t if you haven’t got one.