Your Logo Doesn’t Sell

Apr 18, 2013 | Brand Differentiation

Your logo is a symbol, a reference point and a beacon for your business. It helps to create recognition, and support top of mind awareness. But your logo does not drive sales.

Consider the major purchases you’ve made in the past few years. Did the company’s logo influence your purchase decisions?

Unless we’re talking about clothing and fashion brands, logos don’t drive sales. Could you imagine a purchasing department using brand identity as a criteria to select vendors? I can’t.

When it comes to lead generation and sales, logos do not close deals.

The rebranding hangover

Companies are led to believe “their brand” is a sales driver.

Design firms and ad agencies push their clients to update their brand identities to keep them fresh and relevant.

The advice may have merit, but it has to be held in context. Are you investing in your logo and identity to keep it inline with your strategy and business model, or are you investing in it as a way to increase sales?

If a rebrand is driven by the latter, the results are disappointing. The project might deliver a short spike in sales, but a few months later lead generation and sales fall back to original levels.

The initial spike in interest comes from a communication plan. When you do something new you talk about it and promote it. But once the interest wears off, the sales fall off too.

Without a purposeful strategy, a logo is just a picture on your collateral.

A touchpoint in a strategy

A logo is a touchpoint.

Visit an Apple Store, and you will see the iconic apple symbol emblazoned across all their products. The logo is baked into their designs, and a clear visual cue of the product experience. The logo is part of the Apple strategy.

Total Power LogoBut let’s use a mid-market example. Total Power is a Canadian distributor of electrical generators. They prominently place a sticker with their company logo and contact information on every generator they sell.

The logo has 3 primary functions:

  1. Branding. Informs the market where the product came from.
  2. Service. If the generator requires service, the technician knows who to contact.
  3. Lead generation. If there’s a Total Power generator in your building, you’re probably going to call them first when you need a new one.

Logos don’t drive sales, strategies do

Total Power has a nice logo, but it’s not remarkable. It’s not iconic like the Apple or Nike logos. It’s functional.

Great logos serve a purpose. What purpose does your logo fulfill?

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Jeremy Miller

Top 30 Brand Guru

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