April 8, 2009 | Category: Logo Designing | Tags: logo design tips

Just like old soldiers, old logos never die, they just fade away. Is your logo fading?

Remember the powerful voice your logo had when you first gave it your brand’s identity. It spoke for your brand in its infancy but is it still saying what you want it to? By its very symbols, logo design colors and shapes, is it still communicating the image you currently desire for your brand? Does it subtly suggest the many benefits your customers will receive if they become your client?

Tough questions – all of them – but ones every entrepreneur should ask each year. Some logos rise up to become irrevocably united with the brands they represent. Others lose impact and like old soldiers, simply fade away.

Even the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval has been updated seven times since the first GHSA logo was designed some 100 years ago.

If your logo doesn’t subliminally broadcast how unique your brand is, if it doesn’t bring to mind specific qualities that are innate to you and your brand, it is not doing its job. For example, an outdated product logo on an established brand can inadvertently help a newly-introduced brand from the same company to cannibalize the older and weaker one.

Marketers who have several brands in the same product category, e.g. laundry detergents, bar soaps, are often faced with the danger of cannibalization. When a new entry excites the consumer, he/she is apt to switch usage to the new brand – unless his/her current brand has a strong image, one that ensures unwavering loyalty simply because its benefits are clearly delineated via a comprehensive marketing program.

A great logo can help to create a strong image that will defy cannibalization. Analyze yours. What do its colors say – clean? soft? strong? What do its shapes suggest – a new direction? uplifting movement? Is your tag line speaking in unison with the graphics?

Your logo is your brand’s silent mouthpiece. Study it and see if you get any message. If it is not communicating your brand’s message in its current form, turn up the volume – update your logo with a new look, one that still encompasses your brand’s tried and true values while adding a current-day dimension, an additional facet to your design.