Altering and functionalizing brand logos: To do or not to do?

Over the years I have worked with many brand building marketers and strategists, some I would categorize as experts and some I would not. There seemed to be a consensus that you do not alter or functionalize the logo. This was something I paid close attention to because I often questioned their thinking. I started listening to rebuttals from creative types, monitoring the many master symbols in American culture and reading anything I could get my hands on. All to come to the same conclusion over and over again…

Altering the logo should only be done when the cost benefit ratio is largely beneficial to the growth of the brand itself, enhances the brand experience for long term benefits and aligns with the brand persona. In other words, examine the situation for the true opportunities that will present themselves through willingness to alter the logo. Really look at the cost benefit ratio. Don’t just do it on a whim because the creative director gets an idea or someone on the executive team got a wild hair up their you know what.

An example is Starbucks. The Starbucks brand is really about the experience, which is very much created through its coffee shops’ atmosphere and customer interaction with the brand, not necessarily the actual coffee. Starbucks has prided itself on providing a consistent style among all its shops throughout the country – providing contemporary plush furniture, soft lighting, conversational seating arrangements, and so on.

As their growth strategies stumbled because of community backlash based on complaints of neighborhood homogenization, Starbucks reevaluated its approach to its store motif standards. They started assigning regional designers to examine the neighborhoods where stores were breaking new ground to pull decorative influences from. They have even gone as far to examine how the logo and signage may be edited. All influenced by the local area, Starbucks is bringing neighborhoods’ style into the motif, experience and brand of the store, allowing for the new stores to fit into the community landscape and meet less backlash.

This is what I mean b y strategic evaluation of the cost benefit ratio. Had Starbucks not entertained the communities’ requests, their growth may have slipped, not to mention they could have been perceived as stubborn corporate types and their image may have been tarnished

Another example, and the one I feel really broke the mold, is Google. Ever check out their logo on a holiday? Google literally dresses up its logo in design costume. Now I am sure this may have started as a cool idea, but they actually tapped into a way for their audience to experience the brand in a new way and different way, completely different form any other search engine. I recall hearing people around the office saying, “Hey did you see Google today?” or “Check out the Google logo – cool. I love when they do that”

Again, the benefit far outweighs the cost.

This being said, I also strongly believe that once a brand makes the decision to consider alterations to its brand/logo, limitations and parameters should be set to maintain the integrity of the brand. This means that the changes should never trivialize the brand; it should only enhance what it already is. If the changes neither impact the brand in a negative or positive way, then don’t waste your time. I see many marketers and creatives doing things because they just want to, not because it actually works. Bottom line is do what’s right for the brand, not your ego.

For example, Google is about giving power to the people, staying in tune, making it personal, getting what you want -- these are my words, not theirs of course. So when they edit their logo on holidays, their users’ experience with the altered logo is true to its brand persona. It makes sense.

So in closing, to do or not to do should actually be to do if it is beneficial to the brand. Not to do if the costs are too high, offer no benefit and don’t fit the brand.

Read more about Starbucks’ approach (subscription required): http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116312829873619491.html?mod=mm_hs_marketing_strategy