It’s not unusual to see companies adapt their logo to life events to stay relevant on all fronts. From changing their trademarks, to advertising their new logo designs, brands are constantly looking for ways to be in the spotlight and relate to their customers.
The practice of event-specific logo tweaking is relatively common, and for a brand, could grab their audiences attention even more so than before. Often, we see brands change their logo colors in support of different causes. For example, each October many brands change their logos to pink in support of breast cancer awareness. In June, we see logos adapt to the rainbow in support of LGBTQ movements.
Social Distancing’s Affect on Brand Identity
Over the past few months, many businesses have been facing some uncertainty. Many companies have had to close their brick-and-mortar stores to focus more so on their e-commerce platforms. Being that they do not have a storefront to be at top of mind awareness, they are seeking ways to stay relevant and be at the forefront of their consumers minds.
With social distancing being one of the main topics of the year, brands have adapted their logos to encourage staying 6ft. apart. Companies such as McDonalds, Audi, Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen have altered their logos to spread apart the different elements of such.
Social Distancing Logos Cited From The Fashion Law Publication
Other brands have become incredibly creative with logo tweaks, finding life events to inspire their new trademark designs. The fashion brand, Lacoste, according to Cresco attorneys France Caudron, Pauline Geentjens and Olivier Van Raemdonck, “makes frequent changes to their logo, replacing their signature crocodile logo with the images of endangered species to help raise awareness about the threat of extinction.” This sold-out collection launched during Paris Fashion Week in 2018, and was part of a limited run supporting the “Save Our Species” campaign.
Similarly, if you head over to Google, it’s not surprising to see a different doodle every day. Google Doodles is a campaign that supports national holidays, movements, famous artists, anniversaries, pioneers, scientists and more. The changes are meant to be fun, spontaneous and leave their consumers coming back daily to view the Doodle of the Day. The first Google Logo Doodle took place when Google founders Larry & Sergey drew their Google logo in the Nevada desert when attending the Burning Man festival, and altered the logo to encompass a stick figure drawing in replacement of the “o”. The logo has since evolved into daily doodles.
Logo alterations are a fun marketing technique to stay relevant to events happening in the World, and to show support for different causes. However, the repeated use of logo variations could cause consumer confusion and can temporarily change brand identity. Responding to life events by altering your logo is not necessarily a bad idea if done in moderation! Remember, if you are partaking in a logo tweak, you may also want to consider focusing your content around the cause you are supporting during that time.
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