Why oh why do organizations obsess over logos and tag lines? If execs looked at the the return on investment they’d be shocked. And, by the way, people hardly ever “get” what the brand experts say the logo and tag are supposed to mean.
Two recent cases in point.
What does the logo for the 2012 London Olympics, pictured above, say to you? It says nothing to me, except that I think the Olympic Games paid too much for not much at all. Yet the Olympic Games went a step further and paid to produce a video to explain the logo. Promote a logo? Good grief, what a waste of money. But to top off the ridiculousness, the video showing an the animated logo has been found to cause epileptic seizures. (And not just among the people who authorized the branding firm .)
Then in tag line la la land we have all the car companies using just about the same tag lines, and also making a big deal about announcing a new tag line.
Mercedes-Benz use to have the tag line, “Engineered Like No Other Car in the World.” which as tag lines go is pretty descriptive and clear. But it dropped that lined for the bland “Unlike Any Other” because the car company said the brand was about more than engineering.
In the past month Audi has introduced a new tag line, “Truth in Engineering,” as has Chrysler with its “Engineered Beautifully.”
Mmmm…seems like all the auto brands are starting to sound the same. Will these tag lines, which probably cost of hundreds of thousands once you add up the market research, copy writing and testing fees, make a dent on the brands revenues?
While a strong, distinctive visual identity is important, it seems that too much money and executive time is spent on logos and tag lines in relation to their value.
[Olympic logo] [taglines] [branding] [Audi tagline] [Chrysler tagline]
We see the same obsession in higher education, especially with taglines.