The Importance of Brand Identity and Logo Design for Small Businesses
Below is a guest post from Jeremy Schafer of MyCorporateLogo, who reminds us of the impact a good logo can have on our business and brand identity.
A logo represents a company – it defines its identity – its purpose. It is an integral part of a company’s brand strategy.
Without a logo or brand identity it would be impossible for a consumer to identify one product or service from the next.
Brand Connection
Most consumers have very strong opinions regarding their favorite brand. These opinions are more emotional than rational. Some brands (e.g. Nike, Coca-Cola etc.) resonate with customers more than others. They form an emotional attachment to these brands, often disregarding better products and services for ones with higher visibility and brand recognition.
Some brands even become synonymous with the product and the consumer starts recognizing the product by its brand name (e.g. Xerox).
It is therefore of the utmost importance that every company – especially the small business, has a sound brand strategy and a strong brand identity with a unique identifiable logo.
Logo Design & Brand Identity
Brand Identity and Small Business Logo Design helps small businesses in many ways. A few of the more important ones are listed below.
- It helps give the company an established and professional feel. This increases the customers trust in the products or services the company offers.
- A powerful brand identity is important as in general, people find it easier to recall images than text. There is an old saying “A picture is worth a thousand words”. The logo represents that picture and can be remembered and identified with greater ease than a thousand words describing the company.
- Logo graphics can bring about awareness of the products or services that you offer in cases where the company name is not self-explanatory.
- As the company grows, the consumer base stays loyal to the brand.
- The brand value generated can also be leveraged when selling stock in the company or the company itself for a higher perceived value than the actual value.
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Since 2005, MyCorporateLogo.com has been offering affordable logo design and corporate identity design services to start ups, small and mid-sized organizations. Our creative team can effectively deliver any message across a wide variety of media. We have successfully designed thousands of logos catering to the needs of almost every industry imaginable. Additionally, we have designed hundreds of websites, brochures, letterhead, business cards, and stationary.
Photo Credit: kyz
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Personally I don’t think a logo is all that important for a small business unless you have aspirations of growing into a bigger company. People choose to do business with a small business based on things like customer service and reputation. Then again, it depends on your business’s marketing strategies. If you do any marketing that involves a logo, a weak logo could be hurting your business.
True that. A logo should represent the identity of a company or a group. Therefore it should be original. I enjoyed reading. Thanks for posting this!
Think that I disagree with Laptop Briefcases, think you have great name but is your logo that good. In my start-up I spent the best part of three days, actually sitting with a graphic desginer and saying aye to this nay to that. You need to say aye or no one would have said aye to what I was selling.
Infact I enjoyed the process so much I am in marketing now. Aspiration are all that exists in life, make a logo simple and make it stand out but do not make it your brand (ie stand for something).
“Nice article ..as i am also associated with this business so i am well aware how useful this article really is..
Commented by:Logo and Stationary Design Firm”
A company logo which is also called trademark of a company carries the identity of an organization. It plays a crucial role in portraying the uniqueness of an organization. A distinct trademark enables a marketer to promote the brand identity of a company in an effective and unqiue manner. Presenting a memorable and visually appealing logo design creates a deep impression on the mind of a customer. At LogoDesignZone, our professional logo designers can give his or her utmost attention to your project.
Shane@Business Logo Design´s last blog ..Logo Design for Your Company
Small businesses need a professional looking logo from the start. Luckily with all of the options provided on the web a small business can get or make an affordable logo. I offer a free 4 part Logo Design course that can help small businesses obtain the perfect logo for their industry.
I definitely think that having a great logo is important for businesses of all sizes. The point that was made about there being emotional ties to brands, is the support for the argument that logo is important.
Here is a really good article from the Gallup Management Journal, “Getting Emotional About Brands”. They discuss the different ways emotions are tied to branding and the different emotions themselves.
I also think that it is important to make a logo that is simple, clean, and as timeless as possible. As a business owner you should do some research and possible narrow it down to a few designs and conduct a few surveys to your customer base and see what they are connecting with. Then, once you’ve decided on a logo, make sure you put it on your memo paper, letter heads, gift cards, business cards and other promotional materials.
The more you can get it out there with your company/organization name, the better. That will help to build a strong brand.
I also agree with what you mention about having an image over just text for a logo. Our minds usually recall images better. However, if you do go with text, make sure that it is unique. For instance, the font of the New York Times. If you saw another word written in that font your mind would probably think of the New York Times.
A logo is something worth taking time on, and spending extra money to make sure that it goes the distance in helping to connect customers/clients to your product/service emotionally, and assisting in establishing your brand.
I worked in Houston last summer selling pest control, and some companies become recognizable with their logo. But the most important thing is the service provided, rather than the logo. Some companies spend so much designing and implementing a new logo that they forget they are selling a product.
Bruce @ Small Business Logo´s last blog ..Sample Post
I agree completely. A logo is a must-have for any business that desires to establish credibility!