The Little Logo that Could
Nothing reflects how absurd the ad business is quite like logo design. When the assignment calls for creating a “graphic brand identity,” get ready to enter the Twilight Zone, a world in which up is down, down is up, and rational thinking is the stuff of pure fiction.
This is especially true when it comes to determining what to charge for a logo. Why do some logos cost $10 and others $10 million? How is logo value/worth calculated?
Nike, the world’s most recognizable sports brand and a cultural icon, paid $35 for its infamous swoosh symbol in 1971. THIRTY-FIVE DOLLARS!!! That’s dinner for two!
Twitter, one of the brands leading the social network revolution and catalyst of the paradigm shift we’re experiencing in journalism, marketing, advertising, public relations, and communications in general, paid a whopping $15 dollars for its logo. That’s a hand-job on Chicago’s South Side.
Now let’s talk about ANZ.
What is ANZ, you ask?
Why, ANZ is a bank that ONLY does business in Australia and New Zealand. And yet their logo, pictured above, cost not one penny less than FIFTEEN MEEELLION DOLLARS!!! Let me say it again: $15 million for a logo.
So how is it that a no-name bank with no international presence or significant impact in the industry/culture pays so much for a (crappy) logo? More importantly, who is the design shop ballsy enough to pass on that invoice?
As you can see, reason has gone out the window.
I’ve been wrapping my brain around this for a while and cannot come up with an explanation, aside from snobby clients and equally snobby ad agencies that feel better about the work if it costs a lot. The parent company of the shop I work at (hint: the first of its many names starts with “S” and ends with “I”) has no problem charging $35K for a three-fold brochure, or $50K for a focus group. The thing is, the client is OK with that as well, so everyone is happy.
It just makes me feel sorry for other colleagues who have to fight tooth and nail to get a client to pay $300 for a website, let alone a logo.
So I put the question out there: How does one go about pricing a logo? What is the formula?
On a very personal note, I am a true believer in that the brand makes the logo, not vice versa. The reason why Coca-Cola, Apple, IBM, Microsoft, Ford, etc. are leading brands is not because of their logos; it’s because they are great companies with great products. In fact, their logos are downright ugly and boring. It angers me to see my creative brethren work weeks on end designing logos that need to be explained too much, and then have the AE say shit like, “It doesn’t reflect the brand’s core values…”
A crappy logo is not synonymous with a crappy product/service. A cool logo doesn’t make your product/service better. No one aside from marketing snobs reads into the “symbolism” of logos.
Click on the title of the post to see a list of what the world’s most famous logos cost. You’ll be surprised.
