As a direct response marketing consultant, one of the things I often get asked to advise on is logos and brands. And that's bizarre to say the least, and for three reasons.
1. I am probably the most unvisual person you will ever meet. Often my wife, Sarah, will buy, say, a new houseplant or picture, put it somewhere in full view... and I literally won't see it for weeks, sometimes months.
2. Associated with #1 above: I'm a writer not a graphic designer. I don't know what's "supposed" to look good or not. When people start telling me "yes, the sweeping lines of this piece clearly expose the hidden meanings of...", you'll hear me breathing "bullshit!" to myself.
3. Last, and most important... no one but you gives a flying cow pat about your logo. They really don't. The only three people in the entire universe who care about your logo are:
a) You.
b) Your graphic designer (and even then only up until the point you pay him).
c) Your spouse/partner/significant other (and only because they want you to be happy).
Sorry, but it's true. You have an emotional attachment to your logo, I'm sure. You worked hard on it, or at least got deeply immersed and involved in the design process. You like the colours, too.
So, what?
Let me ask you this: when was the last time you did business with a firm on the basis of their logo?
Yeah, never.
Now, at this point I have to say the concept of "logo" and "brand" start to merge. How many times have I seen small businesses paying Brylcreemed BWM-driving "consultants" megabucks for "brand consulting". Too many.
It's a very common error for business owners to be sucked in to the idea of advertising and promotion with the vague idea ther're going to benefit from some kind of "brand awareness". I don't know if the advertising reps actually working for the local papers actually believe this nonsense or not, but the fact is it's a load of old codswallop.
It's all just a waste of your time and money. Your "brand" will naturally grow from you giving great service and selling great products.
Your logo will gain "recognition" when YOU become recognised for giving great service and selling great products.
And the way to do that is with good, old fashioned direct response marketing -- the kind of marketing where you get your ad out on a Friday evening and you've got money in your pocket from it by Monday morning.
Until then, for God's sake concentrate on building the business and let the logo and the brand look after themselves.
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Jon McCulloch is Europe's leading small business marketing consultant. Visit http://www.jonmcculloch.com now and take just three of his FREE small business marketing ideas and put them to work for you, and you'll be thrilled by the results.
They've all created substantially better results for small businesses in the last two years.
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