Given the importance of your logo in marketing and branding terms, changing it is something you do not want to do on a whim. The function and impact of a logo design is often overlooked. Those who do measure its effect on influencing customers will find it plays a very important role in their buying behavior. Changing it therefore could be a good decision or a very bad one!

There can be many reasons why you would want to change or even revamp your logo, but the main ones are given below. Do think carefully before you set about re-branding your business and creating an all new logo design. Working in conjunction with a design firm with marketing experience will help you to determine if changing your design is the right move.

1. Your initial logo design fails to engage customers:

This is possibly the most common reason businesses have for changing their logo’s and in particular those who chose to design their own rather than seek professional help. Designing a killer logo is not just about putting a nice graphic together, it is about layout, appealing to a target audience, colors, imagery and originality. The design process takes time to perfect and although you are not guaranteed to get it right first time, your chances of success are greatly increased.

You may be on a tight budget when starting your business or launching new products or services, but you should not skimp on your logo design. A bad design will only mean having to shell out more cash putting it right.

2. Your logo too closely resembles that of a competitor or leading brand:

This is actually quite easily done! Design possibilities are infinite but it is often the best designs that will stick in our minds and which can somehow transverse to designs we think are original. Of course ripping off the design of a leading brand or close competitor is a definite no-no. Don’t be led into thinking you can fool potential customers into buying something they believe is something else and do not think that a copycat logo will add value to your business, it won’t and often has the reverse effect.

An original logo will set you apart from the competition, give you your own identity and add value to your business. Only a lazyman would design a logo to look like someone else’s.

3. It is time for a change:

Big brands do this on a regular basis, but you may not have actually noticed! Check out logos across the years from some of the leading names and you will notice subtle differences. Things like colors, layout and fonts can all be subtly changed without ever really impacting on the original design. The logos are updated but customers rarely notice any difference until presented with the old and the new side by side. This kind of begs the question why bother? Sometimes logo’s can look dated, advances in printing and graphic design can see other companies with new logo’s become more eye-catching than yours and marketing studies show that new or updated logo’s can attract a whole new audience who may not have considered you before.

Changing your logo is not a decision to be rushed into. It will mean changing all your packaging, stationery and anything else your logo is printed on. If sales are flat-lining then re-launching with all new branding and logo can be a good way of attracting interest and bringing back previous customers. However, I would advise against creating a totally new logo and instead reviving the old one so that customers can associate the old with the new.

4. You want to or have to re-brand:

Maybe you have bought an existing business, need to recover trade from bad publicity or have diversified into other areas. The reason to completely re-brand an existing business needs to be a good one as it is not an easy or cheap undertaking. Your existing customer base will look for your logo and branding whenever they want to make a purchase and changing it could see them go elsewhere because they are unable to identify you. Take professional advice before going down the route of re-branding a business to be certain it is the right course of action.