Looking at this landscape, I can’t help but notice the disproportionate importance given to the “simple” logo by both designers and the companies that request them. The logo is being overvalued.

In a true branding project, a company’s values should be evident beyond the logo. They should be reflected in the development of products or services, the environment where they exist, the behaviour of employees, and finally, in the communication produced. Every time a customer interacts with the brand, these elements should be palpable.

Communication plays a vital role, but the logo is just one element in a much larger system. A logo is part of the overall environment created to communicate a brand and should synthesize the brand’s values and consumer expectations. However, its communicative power is limited.

For most people, the brand experience—the emotions they associate with the brand, whether like or dislike, love or hate—is much more influenced by the service they receive, like at Starbucks, than by the mermaid or seahorse in the logo.

It is far more important to maintain consistency in how brand values are conveyed across all touchpoints and over time, than to invest heavily in a symbol that, without this consistency, holds no value because nobody believes in it.

In extreme cases, I recognize that a logo can even be a negative element. In the book buy.ology, Martin Lindstrom shows through MRI scans and brain activity analysis that smokers are more triggered by suggestive imagery from the world of tobacco, such as the “Marlboro Man” or a sunset, than by the same images featuring a logo.

These are extreme cases that demonstrate the power of subliminal communication. Despite advertising’s inability to convince smokers from rival brands to switch to Marlboro, it effectively prompts all smokers to reach for a cigarette. This effectiveness of subliminal communication is fascinating because it bypasses the defenses we’ve built against overt or misleading advertising.

In conclusion, I find myself contradicting the initial statement because the logo is not the least important; it is obviously crucial. As the icon of a brand that appears in almost all communication moments, the logo greatly benefits from consistency and holds significant responsibility in maintaining it.