When a company presents a new or revised logo, experts like to judge it from a graphic or design point of view. Of course, graphics, design and appeal are important.
But especially when revising or redesigning a logo, two other aspects or questions should be specifically considered from a brand perspective.
(1) Will the brand become more visible at the POS?
Especially in our over-communicated society, the point of sale is becoming more important as a communication medium. Thus, more and more purchase decisions are made directly at the point of sale.
Burger King is currently at a double disadvantage compared with McDonald's. On the one hand, it has fewer outlets in total. On the other hand, these restaurants are less conspicuous because the McDonald's logo, i.e. the famous golden arches, are much more visible, even from a great distance. This was especially noticeable on motorways when driving past car parks or service stations. The old Burger King logo was often lost in the crowd of logos.
Only this brand-strategic problem will not be solved by the new logo. It may be simpler than the old one, but compared to the competitive benchmark Golden Arches it is and remains "invisible". Unfortunately, this strategic aspect of visibility is in many cases already disregarded in the briefing by the client.
(2) Does it visualise and emotionalise the positioning?
Strong brands have a verbal and visual positioning. Ideally, these play perfectly together with the brand name. Take Apple, for example. Apple always saw itself as the other computer company. Whereas back in the 1970s the typical computer name had to sound technological and digital, Apple took a completely different approach here. It also gave them an extremely strong logo that worked perfectly on their devices. Important here, too: By dispensing with the rainbow colours, the logo became not only simpler but also more visible.
At first glance, the new Burger King logo with this again simplified representation of a burger gets to the heart of the brand name. The problem with this, however, is that it lacks positioning. If Burger King were the market leader, this would certainly work. The problem from a positioning point of view: people think of hamburgers. McDonald's comes to mind.
One of the strongest, if not the strongest, positioning ideas Burger King ever had was "flame-grilled because it tastes better". This could have been the starting point for a new logo to visualise this "flame-grilled". But this also shows that when redesigning a logo, you should always take the basic brand positioning into account. This, too, comes up far too short in many briefings.
Two missed opportunities for Burger King
You may or may not like the new logo. That's a matter of taste, and the taste is certainly a matter of debate. But what is or should be beyond question from a brand perspective is that Burger King has missed two opportunities with the redesign or has saved them for the next redesign. The new logo will neither massively increase the visibility of the brand compared to McDonald's, nor will it visualise and emotionalise a strong positioning.
Check the original German article here