Can a Company Exist Without a Logo Design?
There are thousands of logos out there, and most are not very good. They are boring, too generic, and don’t inspire anyone to take action. But that doesn’t mean that you need a logo at all!
A logo is something that represents your brand or your company. This is not the same as a name. You use a name to identify yourself, your product, or your service.
A name is a short statement that represents your business. It may be a single word, it may be an abbreviation, or it may be a combination of words. For example, your company’s name might be “Rent a Car”, which means you rent cars. In your branding, you should be creative enough to find a way to represent your company.
In the age of digital marketing, it’s becoming increasingly common for businesses to outsource much of their branding—including their logo design and brand identity.
This is certainly not a new phenomenon, but it’s getting more popular. There are plenty of reasons why a company might choose to leave branding to the experts, ranging from convenience to cost efficiency.
But what happens when you don’t have the budget for proper brand identity? Do you still need a good-looking logo to build your brand successfully? Or is it possible to build a brand without one?
1 – Why Should I Care About Branding?
Your brand is more than just a logo. Think about what you want your customers to think of your company, products, or services. That’s your brand.
Think about how you can make it memorable for them. Remember that people have the power to connect with your brand. They may even subconsciously connect your brand with positive feelings or associations.
It’s a matter of time, not money. You may not be familiar with “branding is about time”, but it’s true. In short, branding is a matter of timing, and if you’re not in the right place at the right time, you could miss out on a huge opportunity. Here’s an example of the difference between a brand and a product.
Years ago, Apple announced the iPhone 4S. At the time, people were sceptical about the phone. Many thought it was just a repackaged iPhone 3G. They didn’t understand that Apple had created a new product line that included the iPhone 4 and 4S. And while many thought the iPhone 4S was simply a repackaged iPhone 4, the company wasn’t marketing it that way.
They were marketing it as a completely different product. Apple didn’t give the iPhone 4S a new name. They marketed it as the iPhone 4S. They didn’t change any of its specs, but they changed the name.
So why should we care about branding? If you’ve been following our brand stories, you’ll notice that in every story we’ve told, whether it’s been about how to build a business from scratch or how to take over a dying company, we always focus on the same point: A strong brand leads to consistent growth.
This means that your brand is more than just a logo or colour scheme—it’s also a way of thinking. It’s your identity. And as a company, we want people to remember you the moment they think of your brand.
2 – Do you really need a logo?
A logo is like a face for your brand, so yes, it’s an essential part of creating a successful brand identity, but do you need to design one yourself? While some people swear by logos, most experts say you don’t necessarily need one.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Some brands have done away with logos altogether, while others opt to use one that’s minimal and consistent across all their messaging.
Some even use an iconic image of a critical element of their brand—like a coffee cup, a computer mouse or even a paper aeroplane—to symbolise the brand itself.”
Logos are like superheroes; most people see them and immediately recognise them representing a particular business. While logos are potent tools, many experts in design say they’re overused.
Many people use logos for a simple visual representation of their brand or business. For example, an entrepreneur could use a “business” typeface and logo for a business consulting company.
On the other hand, many logos make people want to purchase a product or service they’re using. For example, Apple uses its logo to represent the brand as a whole.
3 – How can you improve your branding without a logo?
So many people spend tons of time and money developing a brand but forget about the essential thing. They don’t know what a brand even looks like.
Think of it as a face. Everyone has a face; no one has an identity. We all need to be identified. People need to know who you are. What do you stand for? What do you believe in?
These questions can help you decide what your brand should stand for. If you don’t have one, you can always start from scratch with a simple sketch or rough design of a potential logo.
When it comes to brand identity, logos are often thought of as the cornerstone, or even the only thing, that defines a brand. But it’s not always necessary to have a logo to create a brand.
Branding is a set of core beliefs and values that a company holds dear. It’s how a company represents itself and its products to its audience.
A logo doesn’t always have to be a part of the branding process. For example, a brand based on social media might use a simple Twitter handle or Facebook profile picture.
4 – How do you make a brand more memorable?
Think about the most memorable brands you have ever come across. The answer, I suspect, is that they either have an evident personality or they are highly relevant to the audience.
Both factors contribute to making something memorable. A personality creates an emotional attachment; relevance creates a cognitive association.
Branding is more than just a logo or a slogan. It’s also the emotional appeal your business makes to consumers. This appeal comprises your products and services and your employees, customers, partners, and other stakeholders.
Through advertising, marketing, and public relations (PR), brands are built over time. Branding should be done continuously and align closely with the overall business strategy and vision.
5 – Is it ever too late to start a brand?
There’s something exceptional about brands that have been around for decades. For example, consider the venerable brands like McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, or Hershey’s. They all started small and grew into global brands that forever changed the food and beverage landscape.
Brands like these are the stuff of legends, but they can also provide valuable lessons on becoming successful and enduring.
Some people feel that if they don’t have their website up and running by a specific date, they’ll miss out on all the profits and business opportunities. But it’s never too late to start a brand.
There are plenty of ways to build a brand online without having a website. The key is to pick something in demand and have something compelling to say.
There’s no such thing as a perfect time to start a business. As long as you have something you care about. You have to be ready to leap, be prepared to give up a lot, and know that it might not work out.
I’ve met people who have started businesses in their 60s and even 70s, but if you’re not careful, you’ll try to keep the old business afloat while figuring out the next move.
6 – What is the difference between branding and identity?
Brands are the total of the way people see us. It’s how we appear to the world. Brands are made up of everything we’re known for or even think we’re known for. An identity is what makes us unique. Our brand personality, or “persona,” makes us unique. Brands are just the clothes we wear; identities are our clothes every day.
A business or brand can also mean its “personality”. When you see a company’s logo, it gives you a sense of what the business is about. It’s the face of the business, and if the business is well-designed, it conveys much information in one glance.
For example, what does Nike convey? Sports. What does Southwest convey? Comfort. What does UPS convey? Dependability. What does Google convey? Information. When people see these logos and read the names of businesses, they usually have a solid first impression of what the business is about.
7 – How do you know if your brand is working?
The only way to know if your brand is working is to have your brand analysed. So start measuring your brand results. Start collecting data and measuring your results. Do this until you figure out what’s working and what isn’t. Then start tweaking your brand results based on what’s working.
The psychology principle is called attribution and comes from the theory that people’s actions result from their decisions. We all make choices, usually based on a desire to satisfy our needs. Because we are humans, our needs are usually met by what we want rather than what we need. So if we choose to buy a specific brand, it’s because we want it, not because we need it.
8 – How do you grow your brand?
Branding experts call this “building brand equity.” The goal is to build a brand that customers recognise and connect with emotionally. This means that consumers need to feel an emotional connection to the brand to remember it when developing new products and services.
In other words, brand equity doesn’t just come from your current customers but all of your potential future customers.
What we’re looking for in this phase is growth—growth in traffic, revenue, leads, and new customer acquisition. Once you’ve reached that point, you’ll need to ask yourself, “What else do I need to achieve my goals?”
As an entrepreneur or business owner, you want to grow your brand. So how do you do it? Growth is often a long-term process, but there are ways you can work to grow your brand now.
First and foremost, you want to build a reputation. You need to be known for the quality of your work. You need to be known for your honesty and integrity. You need to be known for being trustworthy. As you build up your brand, customers will see your name and recognise it as a trusted brand. That’s what brand growth is all about.
9 – Can I trademark my brand name?
Yes, but only if you can come up with something distinctive that is easy to remember and use. The US Patent Office defines a trademark as a distinctive sign, mark, or symbol used by a party to indicate that their goods or services are those of a particular party.
Trademarks are typically used to distinguish between similar or identical goods or services intended to cause consumers to buy the goods or services marked with the particular trademark.
To trademark your company’s name, you must first establish your brand. Brands comprise several components: your name, logo, tone of voice, visual elements (including colour palettes, fonts, and images), and content.
There are many reasons why brands get trademarked. One reason is to protect your brand and prevent others from creating a similar product or service that infringes upon your trademark.
Another reason is to avoid confusion—to ensure that consumers know that you are the brand owner, not some other company.
Finally, brands may be trademarked because they represent your reputation and goodwill. When you trademark your company’s name, you protect your brand identity.
10 – Does brand consistency matter?
Brands, logos, and taglines have long been used to influence consumer buying behaviour. But new research indicates that consistency is maybe even more powerful than we realise.
An experiment led by psychologist Michael Norton of Harvard Business School showed that people were more likely to buy a product or service if they saw it advertised with the same brand.
It didn’t matter if they knew different companies in different industries were using the brand or if they knew about the product or service itself, just that they recognised the brand as belonging to the same company.
Norton and his colleagues concluded that brands serve as “consistent selves” in our minds, which leads us to the logical conclusion that if you want someone to act consistently, give them a consistent self to act through.
One of the biggest reasons we ignore this idea is to equate brand consistency with sameness. But branding doesn’t have to be the same.
When you look at it logically, there’s no such thing as a “brand.” Brands are made up of many things that can be changed, including colour, font, graphics, logo, and overall branding. For example, a company can change its colour, but its brand will remain consistent if the logo and other elements are consistent.
Conclusion
Can you build a great brand without a logo? Yes, you can. However, the logo is still an essential part of the branding.
Even if you are starting a business, there are several benefits to having a brand identity, from increasing your visibility, increasing your credibility, improving your ability to connect with customers, and improving your ability to build long-term relationships; you can’t afford to ignore the power of a logo.
Find out all you need to know in this blog post, and if you haven’t got one yet, get designing – it’s time to invest in your branding.
