Why Too Many Logos Confuse Customers (Real Case Studies)

The Hidden Truth About Brand Failures

It’s fair to say in my line of work, I’ve come across interesting challenges, witnessed dramatic marketing campaigns, shifts in shopping mindsets, emerging consumer trends, and brand evolutions.

For over 20 years, I’ve worked within the design and retail brand landscape – designing and managing brands with fast-moving consumer goods, fashion, home, wellness to corporate. I have literally been like ‘part of the furniture’, working in-house for some global brands, as well as experiencing the other side with design agencies and dealing with e-commerce start-ups.

The Universal Business Goal (And Why Most Fail)

One thing I’ve learnt is that, although every company has their own way of running things with different processes, the goals are virtually the same – to grow bigger and better while staying relevant and on-brand.

However, the urgency of projects, fast turnarounds and firefighting are a never-ending constant for the brands. There’s that common phrase, “you don’t know what you don’t know!”

So here’s how my personal experiences and knowledge can help others on their branding journeys.

Lessons Learned from Major Rebranding Projects

The Ted Baker Conundrum

The most creative and major role that helped shape most of my learning was when I joined fashion retail brand Ted Baker as a graphic designer in 1999.

During the early days of rapid brand growth, there were some common issues that new brands still get wrong to this day – which are adding too many sub-brands/categories within your main brand, essentially creating confusion with customers who are loyal to or only recognise the main brand logo.

When Design Became a Nightmare

In my case, I was frustrated once when designing invitations for our Ted Baker Wholesale partners, where we invite them in to view our new collections twice a year.

And my challenge was that there were so many additional sub-logos to add on to the design – Ted Baker, Ted Baker Woman, Teddy Boy, Teddy Girl, Edward Baker, Ted Baker Endurance, Ted Baker Accessories, Ted Baker Sunglasses, Ted Baker Swimwear, Ted Baker Jean, Ted Baker Home, Footwear… the list went on.

The Solution That Saved Millions

Now… Can you see how a customer could easily be confused when the overall brand was simply Ted Baker and each category had its own logo too?

It didn’t take long to recognise that this was becoming an issue. Along with evolving buying perspectives, the business decided to streamline the brand to a more sensible solution – to keep to just ‘Ted Baker’ (for men’s and women’s fashion, accessories, sunglasses, footwear, and home), ‘Baker’ (for boys and girls but with colour-coded branding) and ‘Ted Baker Endurance’ for men’s suits, each with their own unique branding but without losing the main personality of Ted Baker.

The Immediate Impact

Without a doubt, it was now easier to PR the brand internally with a clearer brand strategy, and although Ted Baker has a very strong brand character and tone of voice, there was a slight shift in the audience we were talking to, especially on womenswear, and externally we looked more like a holistic brand.

The business then moved forward to create comprehensive brand guidelines, and the brand continued onto global expansion, and I passionately remained as Ted Brand guardian over the next 10 years of my career.

The 3 Strategic Pillars of Successful Brands

I’ve been fortunate throughout my career; as well as leaving the corporate world in 2016, I also had a couple of start-up businesses, including selling my own branded products online, so it was fundamental to bring my experience to hand.

Pillar 1: Target Audience Precision

Target Audience – It’s rare for brands to have a ‘let’s sell to anyone and everyone’ approach – it simply does not work… for any business.

Without a target audience and/or a customer avatar in mind you will simply be ‘shooting in the dark’ waiting for sales to come through, and any kind of marketing message would be hard to resonate with customers.

Pillar 2: Market Positioning Mastery

Positioning – One of the things brand owners need to understand is their position in the market.

Overpricing a product or underpricing it is equally damaging to a brand, so it’s fundamental to do market research in your niche.

Pillar 3: Consistency Across Everything

Consistency – a successful brand that has built trust and loyalty has worked hard at being consistent through every touchpoint, from marketing communications such as social media content and emails to the packaging and website – right through to the tone of voice, color, fonts, etc.

The 3 Most Common (And Expensive) Brand Mistakes

New brand owners have a tendency to run before they can walk, and with all the excitement of creating a new brand or product, things are overlooked, and that’s when things get a little challenging.

Mistake #1: The Budget Disaster

Budgeting for branding – There is definitely a common ground when working with new brands, and one thing I typically hear is that a budget had not been properly set in place to invest in professional branding.

It’s always an oversight to think that a ‘logo’ is enough to start a brand, but that will just create complications as you try to grow a brand. Make sure you work on your full branding package from the start to avoid any costly redesigns later.

The same goes for packaging – without allocating proper budgets, your packaging could drastically affect sales, look unprofessional, and be unappealing to your audience.

Pro tip – Be sure to set aside a budget for design, packaging and especially marketing to avoid any setbacks for the brand.

Mistake #2: The Design Hire Horror Story

A bad design hire or bad briefing – It can be quite a headache when it comes to hiring a designer to create your brand – not knowing what to expect and if the designer will actually deliver.

I’ve helped plenty of brand owners who had paid for a logo they weren’t happy with or had a bad experience with the designer. And the key thing is doing your due diligence to make sure you see work samples and experience of creating branding and ask the right questions, rather than going for the cheapest and quickest designer who can do the job for you.

This is a two-way street – as designers aren’t mind readers and won’t know your brand as well as you do, so if the brief is vague and you give them complete free rein without communicating your exact requirements, don’t be too disappointed due to the lack of guidance on your part.

Pro tip – Ask the designer what their process is and make sure that you have a comprehensive brief for the designer rather than making assumptions, and supply guidelines if you have them.

Mistake #3: The Guidelines Gap

Lack of brand guidelines – It’s impossible to build a brand without brand guidelines.

As you grow your brand they’ll be a need to outsource to contractors and marketers, but they won’t have an exact blueprint to follow, so you’ll end up with not only team confusion but also weak brand recognition, mixed messaging with an unclear value proposition, and an inconsistent visual brand identity with a scattered appearance, different fonts, colours and logos used across materials. This could end up costing you more in the long run putting things right.

Pro tip – Create a full branding package and branding guidelines from the very start.

My Proven Rebranding Methodology

Understanding What “Rebranding” Really Means

Something most people misunderstand is with the word ‘rebranding’, because it’s not just about getting a new look, so I would question, ‘What exactly are you rebranding?’

Are you looking to change your entire customer demographic? Are your mission and vision no longer aligned, or is it simply updating the logo or brand colours? There needs to be a strategy with careful consideration that needs to be made, because rebranding can feel like starting all over and unpicking the things that haven’t gone well for your brand.

The Refresh vs. Rebrand Decision

If you think your logo needs a change, then you might just simply need a logo ‘refresh’ without rebranding all the elements that hold a brand together.

Customer Communication Strategy

In any case, communicate with your customers so it’s less of a shock when your branding does change. It’s important to be transparent about the changes to your brand, especially if you already have a customer base or even loyal customers.

Case Study: The Cath Kidston Transformation

The Challenge

In 2010, I was head hunted for a role at Cath Kidston – a British lifestyle brand known for its cheerful, vintage-inspired designs, particularly its floral and whimsical prints on homeware, clothing, and accessories, to help with packaging and branding.

The logo was originally hand-drawn by founder Cath on her kitchen table, and product labels had variations of logos that were inconsistent and needed unifying. It almost seemed like a deja-vu, but I was passionate about being involved in an expanding and exciting brand.

The Solution

As the Packaging and Graphics manager, I was responsible for creating everything from a new simplified logo across all printed marketing material, new design and style of packaging, setting the brand color palette, and new brand guidelines to store signage, while at the same time recruiting and growing a team.

The Results

The brand was much stronger and more impactful in the marketplace, and I had a part in that growth. Marketing campaigns were easier to roll out consistently, packaging had its unique logo and the new stores had a set look and style about it.

The brand had a unique character to it, and the consumers couldn’t get enough – proving how powerful consistent branding can be.

Your Next Steps to Brand Success

So whether you’re starting out or have been established for years – if you don’t have the fundamental brand components, you’re not just missing opportunities, you’re actively working against your own success.

Set those foundations now – it’s never too late.