However, a total rebrand may be avoided if you want to update an existing logo with a few subtle changes. This implies that the main branding components of the logo will not be affected, but the changes should be conspicuous enough to let the audience get the intended message.

Before delving on how to make such subtle changes to an existing logo, it is imperative to first know when such changes are necessary. The following are some of the situations which might warrant the need for a logo change.

Change of name – if the business changes its name, it implies that the whole identity of the business will be changed as well. This will include the logo as well as other marketing and branding materials.

Changes in the organization – if there are policy changes or a change in the line of products and services offered by the business, a logo change would be necessary to reflect these changes to the present customers as well as the potential clients.

Poorly visualized logos – logos are strong visual branding elements. They should spread the brand message of the business. If initially a logo was designed in a poor manner because the business was pressed for finances during the startup stages, it will be important to update the existing logo and make it reflect the ideals and the ideas of the business in a more professional manner.

Logo revitalization – sometimes, updating an existing logo becomes imminent when the company decides to pump in more life to make the logo fresh and appealing. This is usually the case when a logo has been used for a long time without any major facelift.

Making updates to the logo

After you have enough justifications to update an existing logo without necessarily altering the entire look of the brand, here are a few tips on how you can do so without causing a major failure in the brand-:

Determine the logos best qualities

For you to successfully update an existing logo, you should not do away with the strong branding points of the logo. Essentially, the newly updated logo should maintain all the strengths of the previous and also have additional ones for extra performance. Therefore, it is imperative that you first identity the strong features of the current logo and isolate them before making any changes. These could include logo components such as the typography, the symbols used or the colors. After isolating the best qualities of the logo, you can then go ahead and decide if you will be changing them or making a few adjustments to them.

Consider the past brand for ideas

If this is not the first update for the logo, it would be a good idea to have a look at the past logos and see the sequence taken by updates in the past. The reason for doing so is to identify if there is a pattern that is consistent with all the updates. In this manner, the changes you are about to make should be in tandem with the overall feel of the logo.

Additionally, you can use the past logos to help you decide on the particular items to add or remove from the current logo. In some occasions, you might find that updating an existing logo to past version would have very great results.

Focus on the colors that matters

Colors are very important when you are updating an existing logo. They help to create the visual identity of the brand hence you need to very keen on them. Ideally, you need to focus on the colors that matter the most to the business. If the logo uses lots of colors, you can update it by trying to harmonize the colors so that you remain with a few, but the most important ones. You can also do away with the ones you feel are not very helpful to the business.

Think of new trends but hold on to classic traditions

It is also possible to update an existing logo to adapt to new trends in the market. This is important if your market is responsive to such trends. If this is the case, you can adjust the logo slightly to reflect on the trend but you must remember to hold the overall concept of the design to classic traditions. Trends will pass away but traditions will remain.

Enhance readability

Another way of updating an existing logo is to enhance the readability of the logo simply. This might mean playing around with the typography to make them more readable and recognizable to the target audience. In this case, you don’t have to touch any aspect of the logo expect the letters used.

Use the tips above to help you update an existing logo for new looks but without changing the look and feel of the entire brand.

Check out these legends of logo design!

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The onset of successful branding is to have a strategy that is tailored and relevant to your market. It is not enough to have a professionally designed logo, with a nice tagline and a few business cards then think that you are done with branding. To have a successful branding strategy, there are certain key elements you must have and without which, you will not realize and meaningful results from your branding efforts. Considering the factors below in your branding is sure to yield you significant results irrespective of the industry or the products you are dealing with.

Brand Position

The brand position is the first element that a successful branding strategy will never miss. Brand position essentially describes what your organization is all about, who your target market is, the unique values you have for your customers, why customers should prefer your products and services to those of your competition, etc. Your brand position is critical since it will give a sneak peek into the inside of your company in a short but straightforward manner.

Marketing Message

This is also known as the brand promise, and it is one of the most important elements that will be prominently featured in a successful branding strategy. It is basically what the business promise to give to its clients or customers. While coming up with the appropriate marketing message, it is important to consider in detail the expectation of your customers.

Remember, the only way to be successful in branding is to offer something unique from what your competition is already offering. Customers and clients will trust you and your brand if you can meet their specific needs. Otherwise, if you have nothing new to offer, then be ready to perform poorly as far as your brand marketing is concerned.

The personality of your brand

The brand personality is an important factor of consideration in a successful brand strategy because you will be selling products or services to customers who are living human beings with their own personalities. You must thus infuse life into your brand and give it attributes of a human being so that you can find a way to connect and interact with your potential clients. For instance, try getting into your prospect’s head and figure out how they think, feel or behave towards the particular goods or services you are offering them. Then use these insights to create the relevant personality for your brand.

Brand Associations

Brand associations refer to the various physical artifacts that make up your brand. They include items like your brand name, the logo design, fonts, colors, imagery, and tagline amongst others. The brand association must be in coherence with the brand promise. Careful thought needs to be done when considering what to constitute your brand association.

Other than the association being in tandem with the brand promise, it should reflect on the other components of the business and be in a position to create an intense awareness amongst the target audience. For instance, the brand name should be ideal, easy to remember and exquisitely related to the products or services being offered by the business.

Homogeneity in the strategy

You will never have a successful branding strategy if you cannot realize correlation in all the components of the brand. Every element is like a link in the chain that helps to hold the other links together. The various elements, therefore, have to be homogeneous with no big variations from one to another. Without this, the elements will be like a standalone object without any support, and this is a sure way to develop a bogus branding strategy.

Values of the brand

The business or the brand values is another component you will never miss in a successful branding strategy. It is important to realize that people will always purchase from brands whose values are closely aligned with their values. It is thus imperative to create a strong link between positive customer experience and the brand values so that you can always keep the brand fresh and relevant in the minds of the customers.

It is the values of your brand that will set you apart from your competition, and this can always be expressed in just a few words, but it is important that the words are meaningful and in the right context. Whenever you get positive customer feedback, it is an indication that the brand is fulfilling its brand promise. To increase the effects on the customers, it is advisable to consider the full context that the product or service is being utilized. You can thus use positive customer experience to highlight the brand values so that you can relate to more clients in search of similar experience.

Though negative customer experience can also be used to derive brand values since they point to the fact that the customer got what you did not have in the brand promise, hence you need to re-evaluate and make necessary changes to meet the client’s demands.

Learn more about developing a brand strategy from our previous post!

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