Is Your Logo Costing You Customers?

Well? Is it? Or perhaps you don’t know? Either way, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, I’m going to help you pinpoint why your logo may be costing you customers.

You can’t have branding without a logo. It is a simple fact. In many instances, a logo design will dictate the branding, with symbols and typography choices often carrying through. Take the ‘Subway’ logo as an example. The arrowheads on the ‘S’ and ‘Y’ are carried through to a symbol only version of the logo, as well as being used as a repeat pattern on branded material, like leaflets and wrappers. (Turner Duckworth really did a fantastic job with the Subway rebrand in 2016).

But don’t be misled, branding is so much more than a logo. It is the look, feel and reception of a company. Of course, we can get into the graphical specifics, a branding guide will normally cover the basics; logo, logo usage, typography and fonts, icons, colour palettes and image treatments. All of these branding elements need to tie in with one another, compliment each other and work well together. I suspect you can already see where I’m going with this. A logo being completely different from your branding is going to cast doubt in your customers’ minds and potentially deter them from using your business. Say you have a modern looking logo with a sans font and a simple vector symbol. If all your other brand assets are calligraphic and highly detailed, it’s going to be questioned. As a customer, I might be wondering if I’m on the right website. Let’s say I’ve been looking at your flyer that is covered in calligraphic elements, and I go to your website looking for more info and all I’m seeing is a modern logo and none of those graphics, am I in the right place? I’m likely to assume I’m not and look elsewhere.

Your logo could also be preventing you from getting new customers. An unprofessionally designed logo that has been created without the right care, consideration and execution will not fill prospective customers with much confidence. Again, this is a deterring factor. If your business graphically appears unprofessional, who’s to say your business and approach isn’t too?

Following on from appearing unprofessional, there is also the chance your logo is costing you customers because it doesn’t reflect your brand in the right light. Does your logo suit your industry? What does it say about you? Both good questions any business owner should be able to answer. Our clients Oakpark Security provide a good example. Black text on a yellow background. Yellow is often used on warning signs, so immediately the link is there. In terms of typography, the bold, black type comes across professional and instils trust. Oakpark’s logo doesn’t feel out of place in the security sector, in fact, it feels right at home.

Now reimagine that logo for a dentist. It is completely wrong and doesn’t look or feel right. Do you trust them? Logo design can come down to personal preference and desires, but as business owners, you should look past that and focus on what is right for your brand and your industry. It isn’t what you want and what you like. It’s what your customers like and need to see.

Of course, there is some leeway when it comes to designing a logo. A security company doesn’t have to have a black and yellow logo, there are other options and you don’t want to appear too similar to your competition. The feel of a logo, dictated by type, a symbol and colour can all work together to enforce the brand you are after and suit your industry. There is also your business name to consider. If you’re a startup, calling your security company ‘Helvetica’ doesn’t exactly let people know what you do, it is too generic. On the other hand, ‘Helvetica Security’ or something completely different like ‘Securi’ hint heavily at the sector they belong it.

So, is your logo costing you customers? If you’ve got this far you’ll have realised there are a few ways in which your logo could be deterring potential and existing customers away and to summarise these are by:

• not being suited to your industry
• not sitting flush with your other branding assets
• being unprofessionally created
• not portraying your company in the desired image

If your logo is costing you customers, or if I hit the nail on the end earlier on with one of my examples, we can help. Logo design and branding is one of the many design services we offer.