Entrepreneurs face many challenges Start a business. From write a business plan Finding investors, identifying a product or service line, hiring employees, building a website, and more, business owners have their hands full.
So it’s no surprise that many business owners don’t spend much time choosing coloring scheme and font when Brand Promotion their business.
However, this turned out to be a mistake, as there are more colors and fonts than the eye sees.
A sort of Well-designed company logo Create value.
Your logo is a ubiquitous representation of your business.it will not only appear on your website or Product packaging. Your logo can appear anywhere – storefront signage, branded social content, billboards, business reports and business card.
Research shows that the simplicity or complexity of a logo can Influencing investors’ financing decisions and Brand Equity. What matters is whether you follow Logo Design Trendsyour logo affect customer psychology and brand performance.
But how do you pick the perfect logo for your business? Should your logo be descriptive or non-descriptive?
Descriptive and non-descriptive logos
A recent study 597 logos were analyzed to determine whether descriptive logos were better than non-descriptive logos. The study concluded that, overall, descriptive logos had a more significant positive impact on sales than non-descriptive logos. However, the results are not absolute, and there are obvious reasons why you should choose one style over another.
Let’s take a look at the key findings of this study:
1. About 60% of companies use non-descriptive logos, while 40% use descriptive logos
A descriptive logo uses (or both) text and visual design elements to clearly (some might say, literally) communicate the one product or service a company is marketing. Think of the Burger King or Domino’s Pizza logo. Both are popular and timeless logo designs with mass appeal.
Non-descriptive logos do not indicate the type of products or services these brands sell. Think McDonald’s golden arches or Adidas’ three stripes – their logos don’t tell you anything about the company’s products if it weren’t for their global popularity.
2. Consumers generally prefer descriptive logos
In one of the group experiments, researchers randomly assigned participants to one of two groups.
One group was shown a descriptive sign for a sushi restaurant, while the other group was shown a non-descriptive sign for the same restaurant. Each sign has a similar short description of the restaurant.
After reading the restaurant’s description and viewing their assigned logo, participants were asked to pass a Likert scale A scoring system for brand authenticity and how well they rate restaurants.
After comparing the responses of the two groups, the researchers found that participants in the descriptive logotype group felt the brand was more authentic and preferred it than participants in the non-descriptive logotype group.
The researchers further revealed that consumers also found it easier to intuitively handle descriptive logos and understand a brand’s product or service.
According to the researchers, companies with descriptive logos:
- more real to customers
- Positively affects customer perception of the brand
- Increased consumer willingness to buy
- increase sales
3. A descriptive logo is more likely to improve brand performance
In another study, researchers sought to discover the impact of descriptive versus non-descriptive logos on a company’s net sales.
First, the team obtained financial information (such as net sales, advertising and R&D spending, and total assets) for 423 B2C (business-to-consumer) brands.
They then collected the logos of participating companies and asked research assistants (who didn’t know the purpose of the study) to determine which logos were descriptive or non-descriptive.The research assistant also designated 13 other design features such as symmetry, shape and color as control variable.
use regression analysisthe researchers explored the impact of descriptive or non-descriptive logos on a company’s net sales.
The results showed that descriptive logos “had a greater positive impact on sales than non-descriptive logos.”
The researchers tested the logos of 174 early-stage startups by providing their logos and product descriptions to 2,630 people. Again, they found that descriptive logos were often associated with higher purchase intentions.
4. The power of descriptive signs is not absolute
Not every brand benefits from a descriptive logo.
The research team found this by comparing the effect of descriptive logos on brands that customers were familiar with and brands they were not familiar with.
They observed that while descriptive signs had a positive effect on brand equity for both familiar and unfamiliar brands, “the magnitude of this positive effect was much smaller for familiar brands.”
The study explains that this happens because customers who are already familiar with the brand already know a lot about it. Therefore, they may be less likely to be influenced by the logo design. Instead, their purchasing decisions are influenced by the customer experience or the product or service.
The researchers also found that descriptive signs “have a negative impact on brands marketing products or services that are associated with sad or unpleasant things, such as palm oil, funeral homes, and insect repellants.” Such descriptive signs are associated with deforestation, death and Insect bites were negatively correlated.
5. Use at least one descriptive element in your logo
The researchers recommend that business owners include at least “a textual and/or visual design element that indicates the type of product or service your company offers.”
For example, coffee shop owners should consider a logo design that includes a coffee mug or icon to represent the hot steam coming out of the mug.
Or, if a business owner wants to start a bookstore, try a logo design that uses the symbol (even if it’s a bit abstract) of a book or stack of books.
But the finding does come with a caveat.
Suppose your company is in an industry associated with negative concepts (see above discussion of palm oil and insect repellent). In this case, a non-descriptive logo might be your better option.
Non-descriptive logos are also better for companies with multiple, often unrelated business units. Amazon, Procter & Gamble and The Walt Disney Company are good examples.
These conglomerates often have different products or services under one umbrella. Therefore, a descriptive approach can make their logo visually crowded, unappealing and confusing.
Also, brands that don’t want to be associated with just a specific product should avoid descriptive logos.
For example, a beauty and skincare company that offers multiple formulas may have a better chance of using a classic wordmark logo.
What if you are rebranding, consider how your current brand reflects your products and services. For example, Dunkin’ Donuts dropped the word “Donuts” from its descriptive logo because it wanted to diversify its offerings and create more connections with other (healthier) product alternatives such as bagels.
6. Descriptive logos are not a brand home run
The researchers are careful to point out that they are
There is no arguing that a descriptive logo can guarantee a successful launch of a brand, or that the logo is the most important brand element to consider.
Among other things, the study did not assess how descriptiveness affects brands with diverse products and services.
And it doesn’t take into account how what started as a descriptive logo has evolved over the years into a less descriptive or non-descriptive logo.
But the study does highlight that marketers, entrepreneurs and business owners are more be strategic in their branding decisions. Weak branding can be a costly mistake.
