Other than its name, a logo is a brand’s most memorable asset. A strong logo establishes brand recognition and reflects the strategic direction. As a brand evolves, even a well-crafted logo can become outdated or misaligned with its business objectives.

Here are six issues that signal you’re ready for a logo update:

1. Merger or Acquisition

It’s critical to implement the right logo when brands come together. Sometimes logos are combined to send a strong signal of shared priorities (e.g., United Airlines and Continental Airlines). Other times, especially when there’s a new brand name, a new logo is created void of any visual baggage associated with either brand. In rare instances, the primary brand will update an acquired brand, so it’s visually in-sync with the master brand. Facebook’s purchase of Instagram is a good example—modernizing the Instagram logo brings it in line with the Facebook brand.

2. Shift in Business Strategy

As your brand grows and shifts, that once perfect logo may appear limited because it does not accurately represent your current offering. For example, in 2011 Starbucks sought to expand their offering beyond coffee. They dropped the outer ring, including the words “Starbucks Coffee,” allowing them to pursue avenues beyond coffee.

 3. Catch Up to the Market

Staying relevant is more important than ever. Your audience needs to know they can trust a brand to stay current and meet their needs. In 2001 BP recognized growing public sentiment leaning toward environmentally conscious concerns and took the leap to define itself as a forward-thinking, ecologically focused energy company. And the new logo was the perfect symbol to announce this evolution.

4. Reach a New Audience

Perhaps your brand needs to reach a younger audience or refocus on an already established segment. A logo refresh can send a clear signal that your organization is speaking to the right audience in a new and fresh way. The Premier League’s 2016 redesign is a perfect example of a logo being used to help broaden its market appeal

5. Design is Outdated

Even for the average consumer, an outdated logo is easy to recognize. Styles and visual effects once considered new and fresh, become old and cliché. Think of the rainbow bands for Microsoft or the initial Newton drawing for Apple. Sometimes it just makes sense to update your logo, so it not only looks current but outlives passing trends.

6. New Technical or Media Challenges

There are always new formats that a logo must accommodate. The prevalence of software apps, rising mobile use and video driven content (…the list goes on and on) will continue to create a need for adaptations of your logo. This means your logo must be able to flex across a wide variety of applications without losing brand equity. The recent redesign of the Slack logo is a good example of updating without losing equity.

If your company or organization aligns with any of these issues, then guess what? That’s right, it’s time to talk about a logo update. Here’s a look at some of our recent logo design work.