How does your logo stand up to the competition? Even more importantly, is your logo doing it’s job? You logo is more then just some image to put on your letterhead; it is your identity, your face, your first impression to the market.

Many companies spend tens of thousands of dollars or more on a logo. Nike or Macintosh have huge budgets just for marketing their logo. What can you possible do to maximize you logos’ impression, without spending the kind of money IBM does?

OneVision, a British marketing company gives this advice:

Developing a quality logo is not a simple task. Imagine trying to boil down all of your personality traits, interests, hobbies, and activities into one sentence that describes who you are as a person. It would require a good bit of soul searching, introspection, and prioritizing, wouldn’t it?

Well, the same is required of your company when you create a logo. Your agency can make the process run smoothly by asking the right questions, but be prepared to commit the time and resources necessary to produce a quality result. Work with your agency to figure out what makes sense for your budget and your situation, but just to give a ballpark, allocating 5 - 10% of your overall marcom budget to corporate identity is not uncommon.

A good logo is going to to give your company a clean, professional look. The cleaner and more stylish your logo, the better your chances are of standing out amongst the others in the industry. Don’t forget, it is important to keep your logo fresh as times change. It is normal for a company that has been in business for many years, or decades to change it’s logo from time to time. Maybe it is time to update yours?