Despite its belief and popularity, Coca-Cola was not the world’s first logo. This title is held by the English brewery Bass Brewery, which in 1876, a hundred years after its founding, designed a company logo with a red triangle and the brand name. At the same time, it is one of the best logos in history because it is a simple design and a single color; The proof is that it has practically not changed during these 150 years of existence.
A logo acts as the visible face of a company: it is the first point of contact that consumers have with the brand, and as such, it must convey its essence, whether through colors, shapes, typography or iconography. It is therefore a question of more than a simple graphic element, it is a symbol which represents the identity of a company.
In today’s business world, saturated with information and competition, having an effective and well-designed logo can make the difference between being recognized or going unnoticed, which is why it becomes a powerful means of communication between companies. business and its consumers.
There are some great logos recognized throughout history. For example, The Apple logo, with its bitten apple, symbolizes concepts such as simplicity, innovation and functional design, and is recognized throughout the world. Like the “swoosh”, from Nike, which evokes dynamism, speed and sportsmanship, and is valued at more than 26 billion dollars. But what are the most expensive logos in the world?
Symantec, BP and Accenture, the most expensive
The value of each logo depends on many factors, including quality, company reputation, and estimated impact and reach, which is why some designs are more expensive than others. Starting from the differentiation between the current value of the logo and the brand, and the cost of the first, The most expensive logo in history is that of software company Symantec, with a price tag of $1.2 billion. The American company bought Verising, an authentication company, in 2010, after which it decided to adopt its image by redesigning the logo.
For its part, the logo of BP is also one of the most expensive in the world, at $211 million. It is a design from 2008 under the slogan “Beyond oil” and in an act of sustainable and ecological renewal, hence the chromatic use of greens and yellows.
The logo of Accenture, the multinational technology services company, is the third in the world to reach 100 million of dollars. With a simple, although expensive, typography in black, in lowercase letters, and the “>” symbol, the design was produced by the company Andersen Consulting: a rebranding from scratch which the American consulting firm has benefited from since its launch in 2001.
Pepsi, the only representation of the sector
Among the 10 most expensive logos in history, the BBC logo stands out: it cost $1.8 million and hasn’t been changed since 1997. Three black squares with a white letter in each of them and which became the oldest logo in history. the British communications group. Also from the United Kingdom, another of the most expensive and perhaps the most controversial, namely the representative logo of the London 2012 Olympic Games, designed by Wolf Olins and with a price tag above $600,000.
Almost the same cost as the design that represents the city of Melbourne ($625,000), with a modern and innovative design for a city but which demonstrates confidence in its valuation. It also costs a little lessBelfast city logo ($280,000), which can be interpreted as either a “B” or a heart, and which was commissioned with the aim of attracting investors to Northern Ireland.
But what stands out from this list is the absence of major globally recognized brands like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Google, Nike or Adidas. In addition, the logos of the red giant and Google cost no dollars, since both were made by the company’s creators and have only undergone modifications over the years. No car brands appear, like BMW, or luxury companies like Prada or Rolex.
Nevertheless, Pepsi appears in the ranking of the most expensive logos in history, With a final design in 2008 and for which the company paid $1 million, the new logo was a recomposition of the previous one. So Pepsi decided maintain the original colors that characterize your brand (blue, white and red) within the sphere which was already part of the 1950 logo, but this time in a simplified way.
