Nike, Netflix, Apple, you name it. They all have logos you can’t get out of your head.
But what makes an already good logo, even better? Or an average one, outstanding? No prizes for guessing the answer.
Today, we’ll walk you through why exactly logo animation might beat normal, static logos. But before we go there, we need to first know…
Why does your logo matter so much?
The answer is rather simple: It’s because your audience expects to see your logo, It’s also the first thing they look at when there’s any communication from your brand.
Good vs. bad logos
An unprofessional-looking logo can create doubt on how competent your business is, regardless of how ground-breaking your products or services actually are. A bad first impression makes people abandon your brand, even before you have a chance to redeem yourself.
On the other hand, a well-designed logo builds trust with people, surely but subtly encouraging them to stay engaged. A strong logo reveals your identity, helps you stand out and builds positive associations with people’s memories and emotions. It also sets you apart from the competition.
It’s worth investing more attention in your logo design, as a great logo could boost your brand impact many times over to bring in more customers.
Now, let’s look at why your brand might want to give logo animation a shot.
Need an impressive brand logo your customers will remember? We can help!
Benefits of logo animation
1) Stand out and make a good first impression
With the (digital) world getting increasingly saturated with businesses, chances are that more and more brand logos are starting to look similar.
With animated logos, you get to differentiate yourself apart while leaving a positive first impression.
An animated logo is a modern way to present your brand — it sends a signal that your company is different, doing well and ready to invest more in marketing.
2) Capture attention and engage better
With traditional logos, you usually spend a split second or two looking at it before their eyes move on to something else.
When it comes to animated logos, you can’t help but watch it play out till the end since it’s already in motion. As a result, people spend more time “engaging” with your logo, making your company more memorable. This effect is all the more powerful if your logo’s animation is highly original and impressive.
3) Heighten brand awareness
With logo animation, your brand lingers in people’s minds longer when they see it. This is because moving images and content are much easier to remember than static content.
According to a study, viewers retain 95% of a message when shown as a video or animation, compared to only 10% when viewing it as a graphic or static text.
Additionally, research shows that a single minute of video is worth 1.8 million words, so you can imagine the messaging possibilities you can create with only a short logo animation.
4) Trigger emotions more effectively
Credits: Marvel and Disney animated logos taken from here and here.
Think about the times you’ve watched a Marvel or Disney movie in the cinema. When the animated logo played right before the start of the film, how did that make you feel?
Chances are that Marvel’s rapidly flipping comic book evoked a sense of adventure, excitement and anticipation. For Disney’s, the colourful, popping fireworks by the majestic Disney castle might have created a sense of magical, childlike wonder.
Compared to static graphics, videos and animations are much better at evoking people’s emotions, and have the potential to create excitement, happiness and curiosity.
Research shows that people make decisions mostly based on their emotions. When you create positive emotions in viewers, it becomes easier to convince them to take desired actions. As a bonus, they’ll have a positive association with your brand for a long time to come.
5) Appear more professional
Like everybody else, customers judge a book by its cover — making assessments on a brand’s competency simply based on what they see. That’s why your brand’s visuals matter, especially the logo.
Having logo animation makes your brand look professional because it shows that you care about keeping up with the latest innovations.
6) Express your brand personality
Credits: Pixar animated logo taken from here.
People are looking for connections in today’s saturated digital world. What better way to create them by expressing your personality through an animated logo — one of the first things your customers will see?
Take for example Pixar’s animated logo, where Luxo Jr. the lamp hops around then shines at the viewer. The logo animation is fun and quirky — capturing what most people associate with Pixar films.
7) Strengthen digital marketing efforts
Today, more and more brands are using video to promote their offerings, displaying their logos in the beginning or end of the video. If you’re using a static logo, things could appear dull and out of sync from a viewer’s perspective.
Video marketing aside, animated content on landing pages can increase your conversion rates by over 80% according to a Hubspot study.
8) High return on investment
The cost of animating your logo is likely to be insignificant compared to the returns it could bring you.
From higher brand awareness to more powerful digital marketing, there are plenty of possibilities and returns you can look forward to.
Where can you use logo animation?
Finally got your animated logo made? Here’s where you can start putting it to work.
Company website
For starters, get your new animated logo up on your company’s website. Doing this increases engagement and will give your SEO a nice boost.
Social media
Everyone’s spending more and more time on social media. Why not explore using your animated logo as a GIF and creating a message with it, or insert it in a video for higher engagement?
Presentations
Add a dash of life to your presentations and pitches by including your animated logo. This will create more impact and impress your audience with your company’s originality.
Promotions
Also use your animated logo on promotional material such as articles, videos and sales pages to get customers curious about what you have to offer.
TV advertisements
Putting out advertisements on the television? Place them in your end frames for greater brand recall.
Top tips for creating great logo animation
Now that you know what animated logos can do for you and where to use them, how can you go about creating good ones?
Here are a list of helpful tips:
- Surprise users and make the animation unpredictable. More novelty, more memorability.
- Try keeping it short within 10 seconds, given that modern attention spans today are only about eight seconds.
- Know your customer base well and animate the logo based on their preferences
- Get familiar with your company’s personality so that the logo accurately brings it across
- Follow your branding guidelines
- Figure out what backgrounds and environments your logo will appear in
- If you’d like to, create great sound design to complement and amplify the overall animated logo experience
That said, perhaps you may prefer leaving all of this to animation experts so you can focus on your business. Well, that’s where we can come in!
If you’re ready to create logo animation for better business results, drop us a message today.
