Role of Logos in Branding

Long gone is the era when brands used to target their audience with text-rich, information-heavy and lengthily laid out brand ideas, messages and motives. Today’s on-the-go generation of customers tends to be more inclined towards brands that successfully convey their essence in less than 2-3 words. Best done through a great, representative logo.?

Yes, that's right! The logo is by far considered one of the most powerful marketing tools a business eyeing a greater customer base can adopt and adapt to. The versatility and flexibility associated with a wide range of logo options lend incredible power to brand reinforcement.?

Now, to spill the beans on why major companies are digitalising and shifting their logos tremendously to up the game, it is good to first grasp what a logo is.?

To put it simply, a logo refers to a graphical element that, together with its logotype (a styled typeface), forms a trademark or commercial brand.

Ever given a second to wonder what a logo is composed of??

Well, it is typically created with a symbol (a graphic element) and a wordmark (a styled typeface). Now there can be innumerable combinations with which a logo can be designed from (discussed in later sections in detail).?

So, what does a logo do for you?

It is extensively used in the digital age to creatively identify and distinguish a brand, product, or service from the rest. A logo is the brand's digital (or print) identity. It is rightly thought of as the closest personification of the whole brand.?

?Now that we have gained basic insights into what a logo is and how it is created, it is time we dig in further to understand its crucial role in achieving the branding targets.

Some factors to which a logo’s contribution is unmatched and indispensable:?

?-?Brand building?

Primarily, a logo helps a company’s or business’s customers to easily and quickly identify a brand among its competitors. It helps build brand recall by posing as a first impression.?

- Brand perception

A powerful yet creative logo builds the overall perception of the brand. How the brand idea, motive and mission is perceived by the customers, in the long run, is determined by its logo.

-?Brand information?

A well-designed, indicative and visually appealing logo is great at conveying the brand's message to its prospective customers.?

-?Brand identity?

An attractive logo builds the brand’s overall look and feels one can associate with the brand.

-?Brand value

An exciting-looking logo helps communicate the true values that a business swears by. Visually, it represents what a brand stands for.?

-?Brand equity

A wholesome brand logo is the best tool to promote brand equity, something that stays in the minds of prospective customers.

- Brand Price?

A logo that succeeds in conveying and achieving all of the above helps the business fetch a greater and higher price than its competitors.?

Without an iota of doubt, purpose-driven visual branding through creative and meaningful logos is the best investment a business or company can indulge in, in 2023. Helping the brand steer through the surrounding clutter, one-of-a-kind, attractive logo designs do wonders.?

What should a Logo be?

The best logos are those that settle in best with your target audience. And, to attain a great, eye-catching and goal-oriented logo, certain must-remember points are worth revisiting.?

~ Keep It Simple, Silly!?

The logo should be, first of all, simple. Yes, too many complicated designs, complex patterns and difficult colour choices in a logo can distract rather than attract customers. Keep it clean and simple, silly!?

Quick reality check: Close your eyes and imagine a logo you like. Most likely, anyone would imagine a basic, simple yet memorable logo design!?

~ Focus on visual appeal (design and pattern)?

Heading towards a fantastic logo that people like? Make the logo design and pattern memorable. Something that appeals visually and attracts the sensory nerves at first glance itself.?

Tip of the day: Never shy away from experimenting with different and unique patterns.?

~ Logic is a must?

In addition, there must be logic behind what you design. It must portray the brand's personality clearly, and not make people’s thoughts astray.?

Fact check: A well-planned and well-designed logo is the epitome of the brand itself!?

~ Versatile and cross-platform suitability?

A must-have feature for logos is to be highly versatile and scalable. What that basically implies is that it is quite easy to publish it across multiple channels. Easy to expand, easy to shrink, and high-quality logos are a blessing for the social media and design teams as well.?

Add-on: A logo must be compatible with promotional gifts, brochures, online press releases, digital prints, etc.?

~ Emotional connect??

An enticing logo helps the brand succeed in linking prospective customer’s emotions to it. This is a great booster for sales and revenues. Plan a logo that showcases what your brand strongly believes in and seeks to attain.?

This list can be as far-fetched as one’s design and social media teams can attain! The plus points of a memorable, great logo always (like a rule!) outweigh the combined costs of its design, marketing, etc.?

The logical next step is to look into the various types of logos prevalent in the online and digital business world.?

What we have done for you is to list these types out by giving a few prominent examples as well -?

1. Image-based logos?

The evolutionary story of the brand's Starbucks logo is worth noting. Transforming from a much cluttered, image and text-oriented logo in 1971, the brand has today moved to a more simpler, cleaner and image-driven logo. The modern approach of competitive brands is to portray the brand logo via eye-catching images and designs rather than complex compositions.?

2. Symbol logos or Logo symbols?

Some of the most easily recalled logos are definitely those of companies such as Apple, Target, Twitter and Chanel. Wondering why? Well, observe closely to note that they simply use a symbol as their brand logo. With little or absolutely no typography at all, top brands are revolutionising their marketing games recently. This is because the simple pictorial logo is highly emblematic, and it needs no other addition for instant recognition.?

The point to remember is to have second thoughts as to what your chosen symbol would be. Decide whether you want a symbol to reflect your brand name, a deeper logic, or evoke an emotion for your product/service.?

3. Colour Play?

Not really a type, but many companies are seen shifting the colour schemes of their logos to more crisp and simpler ones. For instance, Apple’s original logo years ago was the same symbol ‘apple’ yet with a rainbow theme colour palette. This was successfully changed into the present glass-look grey colour symbol. And guess what? Just a mere colour change instigated quite a large fanbase for the firm.?

4. Monogram logos (or lettermarks)

Companies such as IBM, HP, CNN, and HBO use just their initials as their company logos. Amazingly, we still have a high recall associated with their basic logos. Brand identification has become a cakewalk for companies like these who otherwise have quite lengthy names.

5. Wordmarks (or logo marks)

Similar to lettermarks, logo marks also include just the company's name but in a fashionable and unique font. Imagine the logo of Coca-Cola, Google, and Visa, they are just names, yet they attract the customer’s attention with their eye-catching font style.?

Many global companies go in for the most minimalist logo designs. Adding only text as their company logo, several companies across different industries have succeeded in carving a special niche for themselves. They are levelling up their visual marketing game, for sure! Some great examples include the logos of Google, Yahoo, and eBay.?

6. Abstract logo marks

Companies like Adidas, Pepsi, and Nike are quite easily recognised by their rather abstract geometric-type pictorial logos. Note that they do not have any specific symbols like Apple, Twitter, etc. Yet they are counted among some of the most memorable logos ever.??

Such non-standard logos are built keeping in mind the greatest benefit of moulding the brand into a unique and non-restrictive representation of the brand. The meaning and emotion attributed to the abstract symbols are far-fetched than the standard cultural symbols used.?

7. Mascots

Using illustrated characters as one’s brand logo has been a very popular trend for decades. The appropriate use of colourful, cartoon-type images evokes a fun element quite successful in seeking attention.

Looking at the lovely logos of Kool-Aid Man, KFC’s Colonel and Planter Mr. Peanut, they all have great recall, brand identification and unique visual appeal.?

8. The combination mark?

Yet, despite these successfully running short logos, combination marks are also a hit. Top companies such as Burger King, Lacoste, and Doritos use a logo combining wordmark/lettermark and a pictorial, abstract or mascot. Now, what makes these logos possible and a success is the correctly planned positioning, colour schema, and design. The choice of placing the text and image sideways, stacked up or integrated, is one to be given immense thought to.?

Whichever type of logo you choose for your company or brand, be sure to purposely, meaningfully and deliberately plan it. A randomly chosen or designed logo does no good and, in fact, misguides your prospective customers. So be wise and keep on experimenting!??

Why have Brands shifted their logo?

The sudden yet much-expected popularity of digital platforms is worth noting. Most (if not all) companies across the globe, small or large, tycoons or startups, products based or service providers, are shifting heftily towards a higher digital presence. Classic ones have been replaced with more relatable, modernised and thought-provoking brand logos.?

And why not? No one is unaware of the long list of added benefits of being active digitally. Moving hand-in-hand (if not ahead) with up-to-date industry trends, digital norms and online marketing demands is only rational.??

Brands not only benefit greatly through better recognition, identity and recall, they see their sales, revenues, client base and targets blooming super soon. If undertaken in the correct manner, digital marketing initiatives can take your brand a longer way than ever. Easily surpassing the plusses of previous marketing types, an investment in digital media is never going waste (if well-planned and executed).?

How can we help them build a brand?

Logos are everywhere, in fact, even when we don’t realise it, we are looking at a brand logo! On your shoes, phone, earphones, television, car, or any other product you might be using right now will probably have a small logo printed on it. That’s the power of this tiny yet significant tool.?

Creating innovative logos that convey strong brand messages via simple, eye-catching designs is our USP. Specialising in designing unique brand logos to communicate just what the brand does and stands for, we as an adept team of digital experts, are chalking out, designing, creating and revolutionising the digital marketing sphere by leaps and bounds.?

Get set to refurbish your brand’s social media and digital presence under the expert guidance of our trend-setting digital marketing team!??