When you hear the word “McDonald”, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? 99% of the time it will be the iconic golden arches. The logo is often the first thing customers think of or associate with a brand when the brand name is mentioned. Nonetheless, many brands often ignore or underscore the importance of their logo and economic implications it can have.

In October, 2010, Gap, a multinational clothing retailer, decided to change its signature logo from a blue square with white “Gap” in the middle, to a unfamiliar logo where the word Gap is written in black with a small blue square overlapping with the “p”.

The customers were not happy about the change. Shortly after the debut of the new logo, GAP received large amounts of negative feedback and backlash on its social media platforms, with many comments asking to bring back the original logo and stating the refusal to shop with GAP. One of the comments on Facebook wrote, “This is the worst idea Gap has ever had. I will be sad to see this change take place, if this new logo is brought into the store I will no longer be shopping with the Gap.”

The company argues that it changed its logo in order to build a stronger connection with its target audience, the millennial generation. However, considering the lack of support from its online community and unfavorable comments from its target audience GAP made the decision to return to its original logo within a week.

A brand’s logo serves as a means for the company to communicate its value and emphasize its uniqueness to its customers. “A good logo can be a synthesizer of a brand that is readily used by customers for identification, differentiation and positive associations.” According to an article from MIT Sloan Management Review, an effective corporate logo relates positively to customer’s commitment to the brand.

In September 2015, Google changed its old logo, serif typeface, to a new logo, a san serif typeface. The original logo was created in 1999 and even though Google has made minor changes to the original logo, changing the typeface is the first major move the company has made in the last 16 years. Besides the change from serif to san serif, Google transformed its logo from words to an animated symbol, with red, blue, orange, and green dots.

Why did Google decide to change its logo at this moment? Some speculate that Google is trying to change its brand image from a dull search engine to an interactive and friendly portal that is capable of leading you to anything and anywhere. According to the article ”Google’s New Logo Is Trying Really Hard to Look Friendly”, Google wants its users to see its brand as a benevolent guide to this new world, one that considers humans, not machines, argues Rhodes.

Positive and negative reviews came along with the change of Google’s logo. For some, the new logo brings positive energy and refreshes Google’s brand image. “…they’ve modernized the logo in a way that feels very true to who they are and what they stand for.”, said Debbie Millman. For others, the change is unnecessary and superficial. “It’s almost this fake, artificial intelligence, the machine trying to act like your friend. And when Google as a corporation tries to do that, they sound like an automated friend-bot.”, said Ellis.

Although it is difficult to mathematically calculate the success of a logo change and its underlying affects, one thing that we know for certain is that logos certainly play an important role in brand and its implications will, positive or negative, will trickle down.