How much do you think it costs to create an effective and appropriate logo? Well, the options can be different – from mere cents to ten-digit amounts or more. In this article, we have collected the Most Expensive Logos In The World, including full rebrands and brand acquisitions plus we have hidden a few surprises at the end.
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Symantec Brand & Acquisition — $1,280,000,000
This very simple but very impressive logo was worth the price tag you see on the headline. Its key element is a checkmark, indicating that the operation was successful. And this is ideally suited to the specifics of a company that provides website security. Plus, the yellow color of the circle means continuity and stability of protection. All this combination forms a feeling of safety, trust, and security.
British Petroleum Logo & Marketing — $210,000,000
This brand decided to get the most out of the psychology of colors in marketing. Since it is clear from the name that the company contributes to environmental pollution, they decided to convince their customers that they are doing everything possible to stay as green and environmentally friendly as possible.
So a logo resembling a flower growing from the sun was born. The idea of a marketing message was originally to convince customers of its environmental friendliness, but this was a failure and even the object of jokes. Many users found it cynical to talk about environmental initiatives when you make money on oil, and the scandal with the Gulf of Mexico only added fuel to the fire.
Accenture Logo Design — $100,000,000
A nine-digit amount was paid for the logo consisting of the name of the company, plus its values and the mathematical symbol at the top. The main idea was that the company is constantly striving for the future, for growth and development. And although the logotype also received criticism, at the moment the company is successfully operating in the market, and its brand is quite recognizable.
Posten Norge Rebrand — $55,000,000
As they say, all ingenious is simple. When the state-owned postal company, which by the way is a monopolist in the Norwegian market, decided to rebrand, they simply wrote down the name of the company and supplemented it with a circle consisting of halves, one of which flows into the other. The marketing message is obvious – in this way letters are delivered from the sender to the recipient. Well, this logo turned out to be simple, but clear and effective. Although the price is definitely high.
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) Logo — $15,000,000
This logo was created during the merger of two large banks and was the result of combining the first letters of their name into one abbreviation. Designers decided not to break the classic rules of marketing psychology and used white and blue colors to form an association of stability, security, and safety. By the way, PayPal uses the same colors for similar purposes.
BBC Logo Redesign — $1,800,000
The BBC logo has been familiar to us since childhood. And this is just the same example of a successful investment. The company has been working under this logo for a long time and is firmly associated with reliable and fresh information in the subconscious of users.
Here, designers also decided to strive for minimalism, and created white letters on a black background, enclosing each letter in a square. And here we can already talk about the psychology of forms where clearly defined contours are associated with unambiguity and reliability.
CitiBank — $1,500,000
The logo of this bank is a logo that lasts. It was created twenty years ago and, as before, it remains recognizable, memorable and relevant. Taking into account the turnover of this banking organization, the cost of its creation is a mere trifle, a drop in the bucket.
But the most remarkable thing about creating this logo is the fact that this version was the first one invented. It was painted on a napkin, becoming the first but the final. Perhaps it’s worth paying for such a talent.
Pepsi Logo — $1,000,000
A picture of this logo is not needed to recall three multi-colored waves combined into one ball. And by the way, for a brand of this magnitude, the price of developing a logo seems quite reasonable. This new logo was an attempt to challenge Coca Cola, which has been and remains the world leader in the production of sweet carbonated drinks. And it is impossible to say that they succeeded, but the design was definitely successful. It is obvious that the company feels good because it can afford to pay such money for a logo, plus they are clearly not going to leave the market.
London 2012 Olympics Logo — $625,000
And here we already see a tendency to complicate the logo, but, paradoxically, to reduce its price. This logo recalls the cubic style in art, and the associations that it causes are quite controversial. The logo itself looks overloaded with configurations, but none the less, it cost more than half a million dollars. It seems that the designers tried to recreate the style of London architecture in this logo, but to be honest, the result of their work received a lot of criticism.
Belfast Logo Design — $280,000
The creators of the logo of this city decided not to complicate their lives too much and simply enclosed its name in a heart, which can be interpreted as a stylistic performance of the letter B as well. This logo is reminiscent of magnets that are sold on tourist streets in popular cities. And by the way, the idea of designers was just that – to create the right association (we know that you also remembered these narrow alleys with souvenir products) and attract a stream of new tourists to the city.
City of Melbourne Logo Design — $148,000
The logo design of the city has slowly become an iconic logo for Melbourne; with its sharp lines and variant shades of green and blue, it is meant to symbolize corporate power the, and modern, vibrant and cool city that Melbourne is today and will be for the future. It was designed in 2009 by the Sydney office of Landor Associates, to whom the City of Melbourne paid a fine sum of $148,000.
The logo design has an appeal to it and defines Melbourne as a trendy and progressive city adapting to today’s world; the brand identity created has an impact and adaptability that extends beyond the logo design alone, and it looks remarkably vibrant and dynamic. The design was greeted with positive reviews.
NeXT – $100,000
The now-defunct American computer company started by Apple founder Steve Jobs, NeXT, had its logo and brand identity designed by the late renowned graphic designer Paul Rand. Jobs, who at this point was ousted by Apple’s board members, poured his heart and soul into NeXT to compete against his former company. His willingness to go toe-to-toe with Apple cost Steve Jobs $100,000 to create his logo design and brand identity. Rand famously authored a 100-page manual detailing the process, including his stylization of the company’s name from “Next” to “NeXT”.
And Two More Surprises
It would be simply blasphemy to talk about the most expensive logos in the world, but not to talk about the cheapest. And if you are now expecting to hear the names of brands that are not known, then you will find a cool surprise. The two brands that we will call now got their world-recognizable logos for almost a penny. So, are you ready?
- The world-famous Nike logo cost only $ 35. And if any of the brands that we listed above rebranded several times, then Nike is still stable, recognizable and loved.
- Further – even more, shocking content. The first version of the blue bird on a white background, which encourages us to read new tweets, costs only $15. When the creators of Twitter came to the need to develop a logo, they just bought the stock image designed by Simon Oxley for $15 for the non-exclusive rights to the image, and its creator Simon only received a ridiculous $6 for his work.
What Makes These Logos Really Outstanding?
As you can see, the most expensive feature is simplicity, clarity of the marketing message and ease of perception. The designs of all these brands are paradoxically simple, and each of them has chosen its own brand strategy – some of the companies managed to enter their name and values directly into the logo, and someone affects the target audience at a subconscious level through the power of colors and associations.
But the overall trend remains the same. The cost of the logo is determined by the ideal combination between minimalism, ease of perception, the values of users and the company and the ability to easily distinguish a particular brand from the rest. It sounds simple enough, but in each case, the designers did a great job, looking for this perfect combination and visualizing it through colors, text, and shapes.
If You Want a Great Logo with a Reasonable Cost
So, as always, you need to look for a reasonable balance in everything. The history of marketing knows examples where a brand invested fabulous money in creating a logo or rebranding, and … completely failed. For example, this happened at some point with Tropicana, a company that produces sweet drinks. And this is just the case when the high cost does not mean efficiency.
Therefore, when developing a logo design, you need to come from the expectations of the target audience, take into account trends, plus test ideas before investing huge amounts.
If your in the market for a logo for your brand and able to make a reasonable investment in developing your business further. Hire The Logo Creative we work with brands globally from startups to larger organisations on logo design projects to rebrands and other branding elements that are required we are always happy to discuss potential projects. Check out our case studies.
Conclusion
So, as you can see, these are insane numbers that companies paid of either the logo design, rebrand and full brand acquisitions. But for the logo designs and logo redesigns we’re not mistaken prove once again the importance of the logo in brand promotion and marketing strategy.
The two cheapest logos that we cited as a reverse example only prove this trend. In part, they became successful due to an innovating idea, as in the case of Twitter, or due to excellent quality in combination with perfect service and new approaches to production, as is the case with Nike. But the logo still occupies one of the key places in brand positioning, therefore, be extremely careful, accurate and creative when developing it.
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