This post is about one of my 45-second pitches at my BNI Chapter, BNI City Business. You can read the introduction to this collection here.

18 August 2023: From my Bad Logos series.

Q: What do you think this company does?

It is bad enough they think they can substitute a heart emoji for the letter O and still have it understood – yes, sometimes symbols/emojis can reinforce your name and brand – but what is left represents a different sentiment. Anyone unfamiliar with the company would struggle to derive the word locum. And I am guessing most people are unfamiliar with the Swedish healthcare property management firm.

From what I can tell, this isn’t their actual logo, but it appears it was used in a campaign. In this sense, it fits well with the what were they thinking? theme of the Another Lens series. For me, however, this logo is illustrative of another common branding issue faced by small businesses.

I am a strong believer in the core branding of a business making it clear to potential customers what it is you do. When someone sees your brand on one of your vans while sitting in traffic, will they quickly be able to understand what it is you do? If you are Atlas Construction, make sure you don’t just use the word Atlas as your brand (or, probably worse, a stylised image of the greek hero). If I see a large sign on a building or vehicle saying ‘ATLAS’ and nothing more, you are leaving me to guess what it is you do.

Small businesses need all the marketing and messaging help they can get, at least while they are small. You don’t have a budget to explain how Amazon can mean something other than a river (or warrior princesses), or explain how Spark isn’t an electricity company. Small businesses need to use their name (and more broadly, their brand) to become known and recognised in their market.

Look for ways to use your name and brand to drive recognition in your market, rather than having to spend marketing cash on explaining what it is you do.