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Are Logos Important? Why or Why Not?

A logo definitely serves as a visual shortcut. But…

This series revisits the basics of branding and marketing by answering questions marketers, entrepreneurs and small business owners face when growing their business. I hope this series provides you with knowledge to think smarter and a nudge to make stuff happen.


Are Logos Important? Why or Why Not?

Yes, a logo serves as a visual shortcut for any brand. It’s important to have a visual element for customers to recognize your business over another business.

A logo should convey a brand’s style and that style should be unique and recognizable. That’s definitely important.

However, a whiz-bang logo isn’t vital for a brand to succeed.

Case in point, the now classic Starbucks logo.

I contend Starbucks succeeded in spite of the logo. It’s clunky. It’s complicated. It’s confusing. Yes, this logo is unique and recognizable. No other logo looks quite like this and that’s because it’s clunky, complicated, and confusing.

(Why the green band with stars and text? What’s that, a mermaid? No, it’s a siren. Huh? What’s a siren?)

If Starbucks was a new business today, there is no way they would choose to use such a clunky, complicated, and confusing logo. Yet, Starbucks has achieved tremendous success despite its classic logo being a mess.

We marketers tend to focus too much of our attention fine-tuning logos and taglines and not enough attention fine-tuning vital business matters. It’s far more vital for a business to focus on building a business that (a) makes money, (b) makes customers happy, and (c) makes employees happy.

If a business focuses its attention on those three vital areas, whatever logo it uses doesn’t really matter. Growth will happen.

During its growth years, Starbucks focused its attention on building a profitable business that made customers and employees happy. In focusing on those areas, Starbucks built a viable business with the by-product being a strong brand despite having a clunky, complicated, and confusing logo.

You can do the same with your brand.


REVISITING THE BASICS | archive

#01 | How Should a Brand be Defined?
#02 | What’s the Difference between Branding and Marketing?
#03 | Is there a Difference between a Company Name and a Brand Name?
#04 | Does every Brand need a Unique Selling Position?
#05 | Do Consumers Really Feel Emotional about Brands?
#06 | How should “Brand Personality” be Described?
#07 | Are Taglines Important? Why or Why Not?
#08 | Are Logos Important? Why or Why Not?