Logos cost a lot – it’s a common fact. Their high price can be easily explained by their importance – the better your logo is, the more it will be recognized among your potential clients. As a result, the more clients you get, the more your income will be.
What the World’s Most Expensive Logos Actually Cost
It’s a simple Maths. That’s why logo expenses are worth every cent. However, not always. Sometimes companies spend a fortune on logo design which either looks ridiculous or could be done at a much cheaper price.
Here’s a review of the most expensive and inspiring logos in the world. Take a look and decide whether they were worth spending money on.
One thing to get straight before the list, because nearly every version of it online gets this wrong. A logo design fee and a rebranding budget are different things, and they differ by two or three orders of magnitude. Drawing a mark costs whatever a design studio charges for it. Rolling that mark out across petrol stations, delivery vans, uniforms, signage, stationery and a global advertising campaign costs a great deal more. Almost every number in the lists of “most expensive logos” is the second figure being reported as the first – and the one at the top of this list is not even a rebranding cost. Each entry below says which it is.
1. Symantec – $1.28 Billion, and Not for a Logo
Symantec is an American software company that deals with security, storage and backup of information. However, it’s famous mostly not for its successful business but for being a company that spent the biggest amount of money on upgrading its logo.
That $1.28 billion figure is real, but it did not buy a logo. It was the price Symantec paid in 2010 to acquire VeriSign’s authentication services business – SSL certification, the managed public key infrastructure platform and VeriSign’s stake in VeriSign Japan. The deal closed in August 2010 and the checkmark came with the company. Symantec built it into a new identity afterwards, and somewhere along the way an entire acquisition got retold as the price of a logo. The logo itself contains a black checkpoint in an orange circle.
The pixelated part of the icon symbolizes globalization and the ability of the company to get merged and become a part of every person’s life. If we analyze the color palette of the logo, orange color will determine that the company is worth your trust.
At the same time black shows luxury and sophistication. There is also the name of the company underneath the circle done with the help of a creative font. The whole image is really great.
However, one may only wonder if the same logo couldn’t be designed at a much lower price. The new logo didn’t help Symantec become the largest software company in the world. On the contrary, the company has experienced a major recession.
2. BP Global – $211 Million for the Rebrand, About £4.6 Million for the Logo
BP Global is one of the world’s largest oil conglomerates that’s why it was no surprise that such company has spent a considerable sum of money on upgrading its logo. The $211 million is the cost of the whole rebrand rather than the drawing. Landor Associates was paid in the region of £4.6 million to design the Helios mark; the rest went on putting it onto thousands of service stations, tankers, uniforms and forecourt signage, and on the advertising that introduced it. As for the logo itself, it presents a combination of green, light green, yellow and white.
Such warm color choice designed in a shape of a flower conveys an impression of a green outburst. Also, such colors are associated with environment, protection and growth. In such way the company establishes that it cares for the environment and its development is the main priority.
Another important detail of this logo is the name of the company, BP, placed above the flower to the right. Such placement of the text along with an interesting font makes the composition totally harmonious. Such logo was really beneficial for BP Global and nowadays the company is easily recognized by it worldwide.
3. Accenture – $100 Million Renaming Programme
Accenture is a consulting agency, a leader in its sphere. The $100 million usually quoted for Accenture is the cost of the whole renaming programme in 2001, when Andersen Consulting became Accenture: the new name, the global advertising and the rollout, not a design invoice. The company’s own annual report for that year records $147 million of costs from changing the name.
The new logo is very clear. Its designers (the same agency that created a logo for BP Global) decided to stick to a simple and yet smart solution: instead of emphasizing on the company’s name using some extravagant colors they used pure black and nothing more.
The idea seemed to be working: the usage of this color helps not only attract people’s attention but also keeps it. The only thing that was added to the company’s name was a special sign above the letter T (this sign was the company’s first logo).
4. Posten Norge – $55 Million Rebrand
The Norwegian postal service Posten Norge is usually listed at $55 million. That figure covers the 2008 rebrand as a whole – design development, signage, vehicles, uniforms and a nationwide rollout across a public service – rather than the logo on its own. The company used to have a plain and not engaging logo, that’s why a new one was a large success. The company used two colors for the new logo: grey and red, emphasizing on the last one. If grey is associated with security, red is for speed.
Both are vitally important for a company that deals with a fast delivery. To design this logo, they chose a clear font that can easily be read. Posten Norge gained a large profit after such re-branding, that’s why such high price was totally justified by the result.
5. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group – $15 Million Rebrand
Having paid $15 million for a re-branding campaign that included a new logo as well, ANZ showed they were totally open for changes. Two shades of blue were chosen to represent the company, along with the broken letters and a strange symbol that stands for Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific.
The company had broken letters on its logo before but this time these letters look much better from the design point of view. Also, there are two most popular colors used for banks logos in the whole world: green and blue, mainly because they rise the level of trust in their clients’ minds.
That’s the reason ANZ decided to pick blue as its company’s color: the same color is chosen by the biggest Swiss and Cyprian banks that inspire trust.
6. BBC – $1.8 Million Redesign
BBC is the biggest media conglomerate in the world that is considered to be one of the most trustworthy as well. Its 1997 logo, designed by Martin Lambie-Nairn, cost a reported $1.8 million and is one of the best examples of a logo upgrade that worked. The logo consists of the name of the company in white written on 3 separate black squares.
Such colors mark that the information that is provided by BBC is unprejudiced and can be trusted. The font that is used for designing this logo is elegant and aimed at the visual perception of the whole picture. It’s hard to imagine a better logo for BBC. For now, at least.
As you see, logo design is essential for the company’s corporate identity, that’s why the biggest companies spend lots of money to stay in trend.
However, even a large sum of money doesn’t guarantee that you will get a perfect logo. If you want your logo to be outstanding, you should consult a lot of professionals in order to get a satisfying result.
