When Does a Brand Need a Logo?

It sounds like a silly question at first, doesn’t it? After all, one of the original examples of the concept of a brand was, well, actual brands used to identify cattle owned by a particular rancher in the wild west.

Back then, each rancher needed a distinct brand (or logo) to identify his four-footed property on the open range. But today, a brand means so much more than a logo. The difference between brands and logos revolves around the concept of Master Brands that contain a collection of related Product Brands (think line extension).

There are many different ways to look at branding, but for many companies, the challenge is to create a consistent brand image at the Master Brand level and transfer it to all appropriate product brands. Unfortunately, in the drive to distinguish new ideas and make some noise in the marketplace, the simple, and often incorrect, solution is to create new brands (and logos).

Let’s look at a few examples: Mercedes-Benz automobiles, Ford automobiles, and Microsoft software.

Mercedes offers a wide range of passenger vehicles from SUVs to sport coupes to luxury sedans. Yet they all share a common logo: the iconic “three pointed star.” Each product is easily identified by a letter-number combination, such as ML420, CLK320, S500 and so forth. And, each product brand designation appears in exactly the same location on the vehicle, and in the exact same type face.

What distinguishes one Mercedes product brand from another isn’t a logo, per se, but a visual branding system that clearly relates all Mercedes products to the master brand logo, yet is focused on the particular needs, aspirations and performance characteristics of each product’s specific buyer segment.

Now let’s look at Ford and its equally famous blue oval logo. Within the Ford family of automobiles, each proudly wears the Ford badge, and identifies the specific model with a distinctive typeface that pays homage to the styling and positioning of the individual vehicle. The Ford Focus name has a curved, modern look that matches its trend-setting European design. The Ford Explorer typeface is more straight-forward and bold, as a testament to the rugged abilities of the vehicle. Both are still, however, distinctly Ford.

But what about the Ford Mustang? Among all its sibling product brands it alone has a distinctive logo: the ubiquitous galloping pony. The mustang is a throwback to the old days when every new car got a new logo, whether it needed it or not. And because of the popularity of the Mustang over the years, it has retained some of its identity…consider it a legacy brand, if you will. But Ford gave up the idea of “new logo for every new car” years ago. So, with the exception of Mustang, Ford, like Mercedes, makes sure that the equity they’re building stays with their master brand.

Finally, let’s look at Microsoft. It has a distinctive typographic treatment for its corporate name. It would have been easy for Microsoft to slip into the “new logo for every new software product syndrome” but it didn’t.

Instead, each product was given a distinctive name and typographic treatment, used in conjunction with the Microsoft name. Hence you have Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word and so forth. Sure, the shorthand description defaults to the application, but there is little doubt in the mind of any user as to the origin of the product brand…all roads lead back to Microsoft.

So, the next time you have a new product or service to launch, think carefully before asking your creative team to start developing a new logo. It may not need one.