That brings us to the next option of using a photograph of yourself or one of your employees. Statistics show that people tend to click more on banners depicting human faces than anything else, and that’s probably even more applicable on social media networks. However, using a photograph has the limiting effect of associating your brand with a single person. To prevent this, consider alternating images of several of your employees.

The good news is that there is a middle ground: create a corporate branded avatar that is a combination of a human face combined with a corporate logo. Not only is this fun, but reinforces your brand and reminds your customers that they are interacting with actual company staff members. After all, who’d want to hold a conversation with the Nike swoosh?

Want to see this in action? Visit our Facebook and Twitter pages, and let us know what you think.

The logic behind the change comes from the coffee giant no longer feeling the need to “reinforce its name at every turn.” Also, dropping the “Starbucks Coffee” off the logo, supports their expansion into a wider product breadth (i.e. tea, store-bought brands, music, etc.) and international markets.  Furthermore, after suffering a dismal two years, Starbucks felt they could use a minor face lift. (Read the full article here.)

 …But as we all know, not everyone looks glamorous after a few nips and tucks.

While the intent sounds good, a few of us folks at Marion aren’t thrilled about the change. The redesign looks incomplete and more like a factory-flub than regeneration. That’s not to say that the updated logo won’t work. After all, tossing away their original 1970s logo obviously did them well. Now, I ask myself, and all of you reading this, why do some companies prosper with new logos or logo redesign and others just seem to peeve us?

Companies such as Apple®, Nike, BMW, Walmart, Tide, GE, and even Google survived victoriously after “The Change.” However, Gap, New Coke and Tropicana did not share the same fate. Perhaps they didn’t give proper consideration of their target audience and current positioning.

Consider in which of these categories you fall before launching a new logo:

You Like Me, You Really Like Me – Brand loyalty is a real phenomenon. We are as passionate about our favorite brands as Tom Cruise was about Katie Holmes on Oprah. I jump on my couch every time I see that Old Spice guy.

Neglecting to realize this devotion seemed to be the faux pas of Gap, New Coke, and Tropicana. I remember the cute commercials with some cute kid, cutely sticking a straw in an range. It made me do the same thing…which isn’t really effective by the way…I also remember the “fall into the Gap” musical commercials ending with a shot of the familiar logo. And Coca-Cola is ALWAYS Coca-Cola, who really expects them to change?

If you have solidified your position in the market and your audience has positive feelings about your brand, a new design isn’t always the remedy to avoid decline. You can change your brand positioning without changing your look.

The Forgotten – As is the case with Apple, who was once eclipsed by Microsoft, they debuted a sleeker, high-tech apple, replacing the previous rainbow colored apple, with an awesome new product to boot. In turn, Apple actually gained new, younger brand loyalty that didn’t exist prior.  

O, you changed your hair? – Some companies don’t feel the effects of logo redesign because no one even notices the change. I just realized, or recalled, that Google, GE, Wal-Mart, Tide and BMW all had minutely different logos than their current design. Change some color here, take out a hyphen there, add a new border and, presto – you achieve a new look without making anyone uncomfortable. And somehow, it’s still refreshing. Heck, even the Marion logo has changed a time or two.  

We Kept the Best Part– Nike dropped their brand name from their logo, just as Starbucks decided to do, leaving the infamous “Nike Swoosh.” Nonetheless, this doesn’t look nearly as awkward to me as Starbuck’s logo. This is because the most recognizable part of that design (for me) was actually not the name itself, but the swoosh. However, although the siren-mermaid-girl-thing is recognizable, I now realize that what stood out was the part of the design they dropped. That’s what I noticed popping up everywhere. I never paid that much attention to the pseudo-complex graphic. Now I’m forced to and I just don’t know if I like that.

 In summary, changing your logo is a big decision that can completely change how your company is perceived, so act cautiously.

 I wish all the best to Starbucks.

 If you feel it’s time to refresh your logo as well as your brand, start by developing a brand positioning statement . After, Marion can also give your logo design the old nip/tuck.

Marion developed a custom web design for Coastal Spray, an industrial grounds maintenance company. The project included logo redesign, content development and search engine optimization.

The most effective websites are those that strategically blend aesthetics, fluid language and technical components. Marion’s fully integrated services allow us to provide our clients with more than just attractive graphics, but  also the most relevant content and coding to produce traffic and – most importantly – conversions.

About the Site

Coastal Spray’s aquatic-inspired site features a background with various hues of blue and green. Both the content and graphics are well organized to facilitate a more user-friendly experience. Accordingly, the lack of “clutter” also allows ease of navigation.

You can visit the Coastal Spray website, or scroll through our portfolio to view more of our past projects.

If you are interested in collaborating with Marion to update your existing site or design a brand new one, please contact us today.

While introducing Wright’s current services with a silhouette of an oil rig in a W-shaped window, the logo also reflects their history. The flame “dotting” the “I” in Wright’s, represents their start as a firefighting company.   

Today, Wright’s provides specialty subsea and deep water well and pipeline services to offshore oil and gas operators and contractors in the Gulf of Mexico.

Journey through our graphic design portfolio to view Wright’s and other clients’ brand building products.  

Team with Marion to create a new identity for your company, immersing your brand in our fully integrated brand experience.

At the root of your corporate image and corporate identity is your logo, your single symbol to the world of what your company stands for. It is the foundation and the icon for your company. When your customers see your logo, they are reminded of all their experiences with your company; what they have seen, read, heard and felt about your company. It is critical then that your logo reflects the nature and spirit of your company in a positive way, and if you don’t clearly identify who your company is, you might get an identity that you don’t necessarily want.

Recently, The Marion Group designed a campaign for Venture Cotton Cooperative. We began with their logo design. In order to determine their corporate identity, we first looked at their business plan. We needed to find out who their target audience was – who they were speaking to – and what they wanted to portray as a company. What did they want their customers to know about them? Where did they want to go, as a company, in the future? These were things that needed to be identified before the “digital paintbrush” touched the canvas.

Finding Who Your Target Audience Is

We determined that their target audience was the independent cotton farmer. Contrary to the stereotype that the cotton farmer is simple and uneducated about concepts of “finance” and “world markets” and “cooperatives,”  they are, in fact, hard workers and very intelligent, especially regarding the interests of their business and the world markets for their industry. They have to be. This business is their livelihood!

We also looked at their competitors. In this case, pretty much all of their competitors, for the most part, had the same look, used the same colors and had a generic feel almost as if no thought was put into it. It seemed that they were targeting the stereotyped farmer.

Implementing Your New Brand Identity

So, for Venture Cotton Cooperative, we introduced new colors, styles and concepts for their logo design. We supplied them with various options to choose from that were unique and different and expressed what their company was about.

Once they chose the logo, we then added to their brand identity with their brochure design and trade show display. In this way, their brand identity and message is consistently showcased throughout their marketing materials.

So, how can my brand identity be showcased? View our Graphic Design Portfolio.

For more information on how The Marion Group can help your company find and develop its brand identity, give us a call at 713.623.6444 or email us at info2@marion.com.