Strong Branding Begins With A Strong Logo

Gap certainly learned a hard lesson this week when consumers revolted against their newly redesigned logo, causing the popular retail chain to pull the re-design less than a week after its debut. What hapened to the Gap is not an isolated incident. The actual product and packaging aside, the logo is the thing that will shape the consumer's attitude and perception toward you as a business.

More than ever before, consumerism is all about choices. When a consumer commits to a specific brand, they typically begin to feel very strongly about the product(s) and what the brand represents. In re-designing a logo, consumers now develop the perception that the company is altering the brand meaning and in turn, a desire to phase out the committed customer. So for other businesses, naturally, the question becomes, 'How can my company learn from Gap's mistake?' Read on for a couple tips!

• Communicate with your long-time customers - If you're planning to undergo a logo facelift, consider informing your valued customers before hand, or at least informing them earlier than you will inform the general public. This creates the perception in the mind of the consumer that they are not being cast aside. 
• Consider asking for consumer input - invite them to participate in online surveys and get feedback. Once again, this shows that the consumer matters and they will in turn, be more likely to stick by you throughout your re-design.

Brands evlove with time and at some point, most companies will want a logo which will reflect that. It can be done and it should be done, but just remember that how you go about re-designing your logo is just as important as your end result.