A great logo fits seamlessly with your company brand and even if it doesn’t have the brand name incorporated into it, it can have a massive impact in terms of recognition. Think about Apple, Nike and the golden arches of McDonald’s and you’ll see that they are instantly recognisable as those brands without actually spelling out the name within the logo and branding. That is how important a logo can be in building a brand for long-term success.
Sometimes though, rebranding is required to keep a brand fresh, and this can often include a brand-new logo. The bigger the company or project, the more expensive this change can be, no matter how necessary. That’s what makes it such an important and sensitive issue, when big bucks are on the line, and you’ve only really got one shot at a second ‘first’ impression when you launch your new brand. Here, we look at some of the most expensive logo changes there have ever been (we’ve put the costs in the currency of each company location).
London 2012 Olympics – £400,000
The Olympics is one of the biggest events on the planet. Every four years it rolls around and takes over a different host city, costing big, big money to host all the athlete’s, the world’s media, and to build the stadium and infrastructure to pull off the sporting event well. On top of these costs comes the marketing side. A great Olympics logo can live long in the memory. When the Olympics came to London back in 2012 there was a need for a logo that really stood out and made an immediate impact. The idea behind the logo design was to try and recreate the architectural style of London and to evoke memories of the cubism art movement. It certainly made its mark in terms of getting people talking about the London Olympics, but it received a lot of criticism from people who said it didn’t feature enough insight into the culture of London and the UK and should have included some historical landmarks. It may not have been a universal hit considering the hefty price tag, but the London 2012 logo was certainly memorable.
Pepsi Logo Redesign 2009 – $1,000,000
Back in 2009 Pepsi already had a reputation as one of the biggest beverage companies in the world. Its iconic 80s logo and branding has been a massive hit, but since that time the big rival Coca Cola had driven ahead with invigorating designs and branding, great marketing campaigns that resonated with a worldwide audience and Pepsi found itself lagging behind. That is why they were prepared to pay big money to redesign their logo and make a big change with how their brand was perceived around the world. There was a desire to maintain the original colours but to incorporate a more modern approach to design within the industry, with red more prominent in the new Pepsi logo than it had been in the past and a flat design included. Over a decade on, Pepsi still lags behind Coca Cola, but the logo change was deemed a big success and it caught the eye of the wider market.
BBC Logo Redesign 1997 – £1.7 million a year over 3 years
At the dawn of the digital TV era in 1997, the traditional BBC decided it was about time they got with the programme and refreshed what was an iconic, but old logo and branding concept. BBC is known all over the world as a reliable source of information, of great TV programming and of being authentic and trustworthy news source. For the new logo they wanted to showcase these values. Although there had been tweaks to the logo since the 1950s (and some really interesting idents on BBC2 in particular in the 1980s and 1990s) there hadn’t been a dramatic change. In the new logo the letters were no longer italic and were instead simplified. White light typography was used to contrast with the bold black squares with a view to showcasing minimalism, unambiguity, and reliability.
BP 2001 – £132,000,000
A whopping price tag on the logo change and rebranding of British Petroleum back in 2000/2001 came about because of a need to change the perception of the company at a time when awareness of the damage the oil industry was doing to the planet’s environment was becoming more widespread. The idea behind the new logo was to use the new shapes and the psychology of colour to align the brand with a green outlook and one that takes care of the environment. The logo itself would incorporate yellow and green and have the shape of a flower in the process of growing. This logo design was expensive and received a lot of criticism, with critics stating that BP were only paying lip service to the environmental problems we are facing and that at the end of the day they are a company that makes money from oil. In 2010 BP was at the centre of one of the worst oil spills in history in the Gulf of Mexico, proving that this criticism was well-founded.
Symantec 2010 – $1,280,000,000
Yes, you have read that figure right. This is the most expensive logo redesign in history, but it isn’t as simple a story as the others on this list. The logo redesign came about when Symantec made the acquisition of VeriSign. This gave them access to the company’s resources, ideas, as well as the VeriSign logo, which has the famous check mark that is now a staple part of the Symantec logo. This tick represents the tick you see for the SSL (authentication of security certificates) for websites, a crucial aspect of trust in an e-commerce website or online shop and makes sense that it should become a central part of the new logo and branding.
Brilliant branding in Manchester and Liverpool
Rebranding a business is a delicate matter. A logo and brand change that is not thought out carefully can have repercussions far beyond just whether your customers ‘like your new colours’ or not. A good logo and branding concept speaks volumes for your company ideals, draws in the eye of new customers and makes you instantly recognisable in the wider market. A change of logo or a rebranding campaign that fails can seriously damage your business, lose you customers, and minimise the potential for growth.
At Candy we live and breathe design. Our team understands how to create a business logo and a branding concept that fits your company perfectly, speaks to your current and future customers directly, and if we are rebranding, we’ll always pay homage to your history and authenticity rather than just throwing everything out and starting again from scratch. If you would like to find out more about branding, rebranding and the importance of your company logo, contact Candy today on 0161 826 0123 or email us hello@candymarketing.co.uk.
