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Our good old Facebook started off as a local website in a college student’s dormitory room. However, as of today, it is a globe straddling colossus with literally billions of active online users. It also has a significant influence on the global stage.

However, the history of Facebook is certainly a really interesting story. Let us take a closer look at its admittedly illustrious life story, while simultaneously looking at the platform’s famous and indeed iconic logo. We will also see how it has played a key role in making Facebook, the social media platform, the undisputed ruler of online social cyberspace.

Facebook: Its history and its origins

In 2003, a student in his sophomore year of college at Harvard University named Mark Zuckerberg came to his dorm. He quickly created an online social media platform known as Face Mash.” Here, Harvard students would be able to see two pictures of their fellow students juxtaposed to each other. They also got to vote which one was the most attractive of the two. Needless to say, the administration was not amused, and the website was quickly taken down as per varsity orders. As for Mark, he was lucky he was not permanently expelled from this institution. However, the seeds of the Facebook platform had now been planted.

A year later, an undaunted and unrepentant Mark decided to create his own version of an online directory of Harvard students. He called this as yet nascent directory “TheFacebook.”
Within a week of the launch of the site, he ran into controversy after he was accused by three fellow Harvard students of pretending that he was actually going to help them build a website called HarvardConnection.com.

However, according to them, he used all of their ideas to build his own competitor website. The trio of students than proceeded to contact Crimson – the local varsity newspaper. There was an investigation after that. However, “TheFacebook” became wildly popular on campus. As a matter of fact, within only the first month, almost half of all undergraduate students who were enrolled at Harvard university had their own separate accounts on the website.

At the initial level, the membership on “TheFacebook” platform had been strictly limited only to Harvard students. However, Zuckerberg soon decided to open his platform to students of Stanford, Yale, and even Columbia varsity. Shortly after that, the membership of this network based platform was subsequently opened up to include all of the ivy league schools around and eventually to the public at large.

Later in the same year, the Facebook platform was duly incorporated and a certain Sean Parker who was one of Mark’s informal advisors when he was in the process of actually building the website – was declared as the president of the company. Shortly after that, the platform dropped the “The” from its name. To make the transition successful, the company paid over $200,000 to buy the domain facebook.com.

Facebook remained a fully private company up till 2012. In that year, the company went on to hold its IPO or initial public offering. The company’s stock has been able to perform very well even as Facebook thrives and continues to increase its active user base and as it also increased its profits and revenues through advertising. As of now, the company continues to excel in the corporate sector due to its very high profitability ratios.

Now let us see the role, that Facebook’s hugely popular logo has played in making the company such a runaway success, and let us also study Facebook logo history, as well.

The Facebook logo today

Once it was clear that Facebook was going to become a global success, Mark Zuckerberg and president Sean Parker went on to hire Mike Buzzard of the Cuban Council to design an absolutely wonderful logo for the as yet nascent company.

The logo that Mike had designed is those far off days is to this day almost identical to the platform’s current logo. In fact, if you were to juxtapose Facebook’s original logo with Facebook’s new logo, you will quickly see that the company has decided to make very minor changes over the years.

Interestingly, the Facebook logo color scheme had been chosen because of a certain vision condition that Mark suffers from. It is called deuteranopia. This is a mild form of color blindness.

The person finds it difficult to distinguish between certain colors. But the one color that even a deuteranopia sufferer can easily see and distinguish is blue.

Unlike the evolution of Facebook features, the logo itself has differed little from its older iterations. In fact, so minor are the changes that to the average layman, it will be very difficult to even discern them, unless you are looking for them, that is.

This is because the Facebook platform has stuck by its usual simplicity as well as recognizability, at least as far as their logo is concerned. They have opted to keep it as stable as possible. Especially after vectoring in the many changes of the platform. In fact, the website as it was in 2005 (for instance) is now almost completely different from its origins. While the logo, as well as the central blue and white color scheme, have remained (more or less) the same, but the site itself has undergone a steady evolution regarding its myriad features.

Conclusion

In light of the above, we can safely conclude that the Facebook platform is highly popular for two reasons. The simplicity and recognizability of its logo and its ability to evolve with the times.

Brands and logos have been the unique identifying marks for companies and products alike, since ages past. Just like Nike has their truly iconic ‘tick mark’ logo and their equally well known slogan “just do it” so too have their rival sports brand “Adidas “ gone out of their way to create a unique look and logo that would remain in the minds of their target audience.

Let us take a closer look at Adidas’s association with the Vegas Golding Knights team and their logo:

The Golden Knights of Vegas

Bill Foley paid a grand total $500 million to the All-American NHL (national Hockey League) for the successful acquisition of the Vegas team. However, the purchase was only the beginning, and the most important task was to come up with a one hundred percent new branding strategy that had to include a new logo, a new name, and of course all-new colors, as well.

This extremely important task was entrusted to Adidas since they are no strangers to fashion brand logos. With plenty of branding and logo design experience under their belt, they set about creating a new brand for a team that did not even exist. Moreover, they had a very small window of time due to the up and coming season. This was both a huge task and an even bigger responsibility.

As far as brands and logos are concerned, they really need to make sure that they would create a dedicated fan following with the Vegas Golden Knights logo. Ergo, for the brand logo design to resonate with its target audience, viz. its fan base.

Ultimately, it’s a sponsorship game, and a dedicated sports following is the single most important aspect of any sport since it helps to bring in more funds and sponsors.

The Owners Ideas

Bill had his own ideas regarding the best brand logos around. He basically wants to associate his newly purchased team’s name as well as its logo with his own time and service in the American Army.

He specifically wanted to call his team “The Black Knights.” This is because it was the very same name that is used by the US army uses for their sports team. If you look at it from Foley’s point of view, it made sound sense. He wanted to appeal to the patriotic ardor amongst the people of Vegas. He thought that associating the name with the American army will automatically result in an enhanced fan following all across the sport.

While being factually correct to an extent, the term black was not deemed positive by many people. In fact, the current branding and logo design is a joint collaboration with the Golden Knights’ operations team, the owner as well as their marketing team too.

As a matter of fact, the new logo actually tells an enthralling visual story of the meaning behind their new name. Here, the core goal was to try and align the whole of the team with a more modern looking yet aesthetic logo that would also simultaneously resonate with the sport’s local fan base in the city of Las Vegas. This was a truly unique approach as it allows the residents of the town to think of the team as one of their very own.

As a matter of fact, the first part of their by now well-known name, “Golden,” has been derived from the narrative and history that has spurred the settlement of the state of Nevada.

From those humble beginnings, it has also gone on to describing the sheer opulence of Las Vegas as it exists today. This has a lot to do with the fact that this state currently remains one of the largest producers of pure gold within the continental United States. The second part of their name, “Knights,” had been chosen because it has always represented the ideals for which had been created – courage, valor, and victory.

These seminal concepts regarding such naming protocols and brand logo design were based off countless brainstorming sessions between the owner of the team’ Bill Foley and the creative team as Adidas.

The Myth of the Black Knight!

The original Black Knight was Zawisza Czarny. He was a graduate of West Point, and he served as a wonderful inspiration for Foley due to his disregard for personal safety and self-sacrifice.

The designers at Adidas started off with a knight’s helmet to serve as a simple yet bold a representation of the new NBL team. After that, their team decided to add some really subtle nuances that also spoke to the team’s Las Vegas hometown.

In fact, the outline of a “V” can be seen to be sitting firmly in the center of the knight’s helmet. This V represents “Vegas” and also serves as the real face of the helmet and by extension, the team that carries this logo.

The Age of Heraldry

Through further research in ancient folklore, the creative team at Adidas found that the use of certain patterns, colors, and symbols on medieval shields had a specific meaning. They revealed details through which lords and kingdom may be seen by friends and enemies, alike.

This is why the creative team then decided to try and place their knight helmet on a shield. This logo was the perfect way to go about crafting a logo that was able to “represent” the city of Las Vegas in the truest sense.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, we can easily see that the primary logo today features a distinct grey color. This is the color of the armor of olden day Knights, and it retains its original dark and steely look. All in all. A truly amazing combination.

Launching just about any new website can turn out to be a singularly daunting task. And as the precious weeks turn to months, you feel that you are losing out on different opportunities and become really frustrated.

However, instead of feeling overwhelmed, you should try and treat your just website like any other brick and mortar business. That is, a site that is constantly changing and growing, and it is based on exactly how your potential customers may respond to your marketing strategies.

Remember, your website doesn’t have to be excellent the very minute you hit the publish icon. It is a good idea to follow a few important guidelines to ensure that you are launching a site that is not just secure but also easy to use. After all, your website has to be absolutely full of useful information.

Let us check this 10 step checklist to see what you need to do to create that perfect website:

Step One: Set a Prospective Site Launch Date

Once you have chosen your launch date, it is time to buckle down and really go to work! You must always keep track of how the work is progressing, and you should also tell other people about your new site and when it will be up and operational. Once the domain has been registered, you can also place a ‘coming soon” place holder.

Step Two: Pick A Nice Web Building Software

A quick search engine search will easily show that there are many options when it comes to choosing any specific website platform. This is why it is important to do your due diligence and research so that you will be able to find that one fits in your budget and suits your needs. You also need to look at your business needs and the technical skills and website preferences of your users.

Step 3: Choose a Really Nice Domain Name

The domain name you choose is the central location of your online address. I.e., it is what appears in the address bar of the web browser whenever a visitor comes to your website. For example, any custom and personalized domain (e.g., www.mybusiness.com) will also help the business look highly reputable to the visitor.

Step 4: Pick A Good Hosting Service Provider

You will definitely need to choose a specific hosting server and service provider for your website.

In fact, the relevance of this step in your website evaluation checklist cannot be over emphasized. This is because it is absolutely critical in maintaining the site. If you get a cheap and unreliable host, you will be vulnerable to long blackouts and periods where your website will remain unavailable.

Step 5: Focus on The End User’s Experience

The user experience, or UX for short, is a central component of your whole website. It relates to two distinct but equally important elements: navigation and design.

Your website should be very easy to navigate, and the visitor should feel that he is at home. Furthermore, the design should be esthetically pleasing and eye catching as well. This holds ever more true for a mobile website as well as an online business too. Every individual page should focus on how it can help the customer solve a problem, or it should focus on imparting knowledge and value addition to the target audience.

Step 6: A Consistent Feel and Look Is of Supreme Importance

If you have a blue page in your ‘about us’ section and a green one in “our team’ than it will jar the eye. You already have your logo in place, all you need is a theme, and that will come only with consistency in color and design.

Step 7: You Simply Must Create Compelling Content

The age old adage ‘content is king’ holds as true today as it ever did before. As a matter of fact, from important meta keywords all the way to value addition to attracting organic traffic, it’s always good content that comes to the rescue of even a moribund website.

Your content must be SEO friendly. That is, it should be optimized for search engines so that it will make it to the top ten of the popular search engines.

Step 8: Test It for Usability

If your site is not user-friendly, people will not be interested in staying long, and they will ‘bounce. It should be readable; the pictures should be clearly legible and not too small, and it should come packed with a host of features that can enable the user to share it on his social media walls and accounts.

The website audit checklist should also include how it can work with mobile phones since they are now supplanting notebooks and PCs.

Step 9: Always Try and Keep the Site as Secure as Possible

Safety and security, especially for an online business website, are of extreme importance. The site should also have all relevant HTTPS and SSL certificates. This holds true even if it is not geared towards an online cash transaction platform.

Step 10: You Should Sign Up for Analytic Software such as Google Analytics

Such a platform will easily let you know who is visiting your site and when. This way, you will be able to keep track of your target audience and also make sure that your bounce rate remains low. If it becomes high, you can take steps to decrease it. All of this is only possible if you are constantly analyzing your site.

Conclusion

In light of the above, we can safely conclude that the above 10 step website audit checklist is absolutely imperative if you want to make a successful and popular website.

Keyword research is a process where you identify popular terms that people search for on search engines like Bing, Google, and so on. These keyword search terms are then incorporated into content, so that it ranks higher on a SERP (Search Engine Results Page). Keyword search analysis is an important part of SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

The entire process involves choosing topics for your content that focuses on specific keywords for which you want your content to rank.

How to Research Keywords

In order to decide what keywords may work best work for your business, you need to identify your buyer’s journey and buyer personas. The buyer’s journey is important for numerous teams in your organization; its usefulness is not limited to the marketing team alone. For instance, your sales team might find it a lot easier to determine what approach works best for your potential customers.

There is no doubt each user has their own unique journey, but finding out as much about their goals, intent, and demographics provides you with countless keyword ranges. This is also why it is important to work on a content map, as it helps you plot your buyer’s journey and buyer personas on a map, giving you valuable insight about what content you are missing out on.

Once you have clearly defined personas, plan for the keywords you want to rank for and those you already rank for.

A simple process to follow would be the PIE method; which stands for Protect, Improve, and Expand.

• Protect

This portion is primarily concerned with keywords you already rank for — keep them locked as they are. This includes keywords associated with your product or service.

• Improve

Here, you deal with opportunity keywords. Your rank can lie anywhere between second to tenth on Google search result pages, these “low hanging fruit” keywords can be tweaked to increase authority.

• Expand

Finally, and most importantly, this portion deals with opportunity terms that fare well in PPC, but have little to no visibility in organic. These keywords have a low probability of ranking on the top ten pages on Google.

To optimize your SEO strategy further, integrating a SERP API can provide a more accurate analysis of keyword rankings, search engine results, and competitor performance, helping you refine your approach and stay ahead of the competition.

Search Engine Keyword Research Best Practices

If you lack SEO keyword search, it is high time you take the necessary steps to up your game before you lose to your competition. To aid you in your endeavor, here are some keyword research best practices for you to consider.

Capitalize on Trending Topics

There is no need to complicate things. Sometimes, you do not need strategies or campaigns with unique content.

All you need to do is to check on the latest trends. Don’t overthink it, but it takes time to create relevant and fresh content.

Improve Your PPC Performance

Most companies think they can throw money at a problem to make it go away. Due to this, they only solve their problems by throwing their money at it, which means they have lesser finances to experiment with.

What these companies do not understand is that it is not money that is important, it is time. Marketers simply do not have the time to guess what keywords are going to work. To solve this, they can use Google to provide those much needed keywords.

You can start searching for keywords using a service or product name. Look for related keywords for relevance. Look for keywords that are pretty close, but something that is much more popular.

Once you have found enough keywords, load them into Google Ads.

Analyze Your Competition

When it comes to SEO, the idea is to outdo your competition on search engine results — find who your competitors actually are. You will also need to find out how they rank for keywords that you want to target.

To find out more about your competition and their strategies, you can use tools like SEMrush’s Position Tracker. Simply enter your competitors’ URLs, and the tool compares your rankings with those of your competition.

There are many tools that not only provide you with organic keyword results, but Google Ads as well. This way you can see what keywords are used by your competition for their ads.

Pick the top three competitors and analyze their strategies off-site and on-site. Look at their Meta titles and Meta descriptions. Check out what sites are linked back to them. See how well their pages are structured.

Use Keywords in the Right Places

Keywords need to be incorporated into the headings, Meta titles, and Meta descriptions on your page. They must be used appropriately, throughout your written content.

Think of it this way: every web page is an optimization opportunity — do not just focus on your homepage.

While optimizing each and every page on your website, target 2-3 keywords for each page. Of course, this means you need to plan what keyword phrases will be used on which pages.

Writing unique content around keyword phrases is an art. For this reason, be careful about the words you use and how you use them for maximum search ability and readability.

Keep in mind, keyword research is not a list of boxes you need to tick off. Take it seriously as a consistent and comprehensive activity for your next big marketing idea.

Use keyword research to constantly tweak your strategies based on what your customers search for. Then all you need to do is to figure out how you can do an even better job than your competitors to give them what they want.

Most of us receive an unspecified number of e-mails everyday – and most of them try to convince us to buy something. There are so many of these emails that clutter our inbox and we end up deleting them without reading any.

On the flip side, if you are engaged in email marketing, you would want each one of your emails to be opened and read, and ultimately translate into sales. For this purpose, you need to create emails that are engaging, captivating and convincing.

Why Email Marketing

Above is a comparative analysis of marketing channels that offer the best Return on Investment (ROI). As you can see, email marketing channel is well ahead of its peers.

A successful email marketing campaign has three basic components: getting leads, making sales, and retaining customers. When you plan an email marketing strategy for ecommerce, you must keep these three basic components in mind.

Serving as a guide to email marketing, this article provides you with some tips and tricks that will serve to enhance your ROI with the help of email marketing.

Create a Catchy Subject Line

The importance of the subject line of an email cannot be stressed enough. The subject decides whether the receiver will open your email or simply delete it without reading.

If the subject line isn’t catchy or compelling, the receiver will never open it. Moreover, the subject should not feel like a sales pitch.

One effective way of increasing the email open rate is by adding a sense of urgency in your subject line. You can make your sales offer time-sensitive so that the receiver is convinced enough to open the email and does not miss the opportunity to obtain an exclusive deal.

It’s All in the Words

One of the ecommerce email marketing best practices is the clever and concise use of words.

You have a catchy subject which compelled your target audience to open your email. Now what?

Your aim is to sell a product or a service — anything you write in your email should engage the recipient and eventually close the sale. There are a few words that are regarded as power words — make ample use of these words, such as ‘the best-selling’, ‘latest improved version’, and ‘sensational’ etc. These words render your product / service as more appealing.

Compare the following two lines:

• 1. This is a very good offer.
• 2. Embrace yourself for the new and sensational offer.

Which line do you think is more appealing?

Of course, the second one. By simply adding two adjectives to the line, you have changed the entire perspective of the receiver. The first one sounds generic and boring, while the second one seems full of energy.

Get your recipients to feel the excitement. They must feel how good it would be to wear the t-shirt your company is selling. How it will allow them to save money if they purchase the product within the next fifteen days.

For example, when a company chooses its logo, they want it to be attractive and impressive. They want their target audience to be impressed by it, which is why they look for something that makes their logo special — like Baskin Robins has the 31 in the middle because they have 31 flavors! Just like this, your email should be full of energy and you must look for a reason why your email is special for the recipient.

While drafting your email, you must keep in mind that your recipient must feel important. You should not address them with a generic name like ‘dear recipient’ or ‘dear subscriber’. They must be addressed in such a way that every one of them should feel as if you are addressing them. This will add exclusivity to your email.

Segmenting Your Recipients List

Everyone is not interested in everything.

An academic will be least interested in your running shoes. Likewise a sportsperson will not be compelled to buy the latest research paper on Shakespeare. This means that you must first divide your recipients’ list into proper segments, and then send marketing emails that are specifically targeted. This results in a notably higher percentage of success.

There are several criteria’s by which you can segment your list. These include (but are not limited to) cultural background, geography, purchasing history, and past behavioral data of a prospective customer. Eventually, the burden of segmenting falls on your shoulders. You must decide how your list should be categorized and who should fall in which category. Just keep in mind that everyone in your list should get the right email – something in which interests them, so that they intentionally move towards your landing page.

Send- Don’t Spam

Once you have all the basics of an email put together, you need your target audience to read the email. Design a drip email campaign using any email marketing tools or automation software that allows you to send out messages over a period of time at different intervals.  Drip emails save time and energy because they are created in advance and send out the right message at the right time while increasing brand awareness. Eventually, they improve your open rates by up to 70%. The idea is to choose a trigger, identify an audience, craft a suitable message and maintain the drip consistently over a period of time. A good drip campaign delights the recipient, and they don’t realize it is pre-written and automated.

The Final Word

Ecommerce email examples are abundant over the internet. There are also ecommerce newsletter best practices which you may consider. In simple words, you can find just about any kind of email that you may be seeking. This does not mean that you can use any one of them for your specific purpose.

With the help of the above listed trick and tips, you can make sure that your recipients don’t delete your email without reading it. It must catch the eye of the recipient, and in the end, convert into a sale. Only then your objective will be achieved.

Not very long ago, most people considered social media websites, and particularly Facebook, for teenagers. However, over the past few years, Facebook has evolved into a potent advertisement channel for reaching a wider niche audience.

Number of social media users worldwide from 2010 to 2021 (in billions)

The above chart shows that the number of global social media users will cross 3 billion threshold by 2021 — most of them will be using Facebook. The increasing use of smartphones and other mobile devices will further fuel Facebook’s penetration among the general public through its app.

Widely regarded as a site for social media interactions, Facebook has slowly morphed into a highly effective – and competitive – marketing tool.

Businesses and entrepreneurs who had the vision and the understanding to decipher Facebook’s marketing power in advance, were the first to tap into it for the purpose of generating leads for their products and services. The exponential scope of Facebook can be comprehended by the fact that every day, more than 3 billion goods / services are liked / disliked, and commented on through this social media website. This translates into a huge opportunity for businesses to present their products / services to an unimaginable number of people who feel connected to your brand by virtue of watching it almost every day.

Some of the benefits of Facebook online, marketing are listed below:

Cost Effectiveness

One of the most notable benefits of Facebook business marketing is that it is extremely cost effective. In fact, it is regarded as among the cheapest channels for advertising your products / services. While traditional media channels like television, radio and magazines charge a lot of money to deliver the message through your target audience / customers, Facebook does the same for far less amount of money.

Effective and Efficient

There are certain businesses that pride themselves on their after-sales service and the level of engagement with their customers. For such businesses, traditional media does not provide the tools that Facebook offers. The social media website, offers prospects of interaction between company and customers in real time. Prospective customers can also avail opportunities of obtaining information about a certain product / service. Customer queries can be noted and resolved within minutes.

Escalated Attribution

Attribution is a term that is used to denote the number of times a customer looks at the company’s brand. It is a common belief that the more a person looks at your brand, the more chances that he / she will eventually become a customer. A case in example could be McDonald’s golden arches logo.

The chart above shows that the reach of Facebook is much more than its peers. This increases your customer attribution because avid Facebook users may stumble upon your brand more often while surfing the web, raising the chances of customer conversion manifold.

Encourage Traffic

There are several ways of diverting web traffic towards your own website with the help of Facebook. For example, there is a prospective customer who has seen your Facebook page, and wants to know more about your product / service. For convenience of such customers, you can add a link to your own website in your Facebook page. This link will take them directly to your website where all the necessary information is readily available. Similarly, you can also link your blog posts.

Targeted Marketing

For successful marketers, there is nothing better than finding the right people for marketing a product / service. If a person needs to buy a vacuum cleaner, he will be least interested in the best guns available in town. Facebook allows you to identify needs of its users and carve out a niche market for your product. This saves time and efforts that may be wasted on people who are not interested at all.

Exponential Outreach

There are billions of people all over the world who use Facebook on a daily basis. This simply means that this social media website reaches billions of people within no time. The diversity of Facebook users is enormous whether geographically, culturally or linguistically offering a wide range of basic population to whom you offer your product. Such a huge and user-friendly database is a God-given opportunity for anyone who is seeking to position himself as a major producer of any given product.

Measurable Results

When it comes to Facebook page marketing, guessing is simply out of the picture. Results of Facebook marketing campaigns are easily measurable. Every click is recorded and every conversion is reported. A simple conversion add-on helps you track your entire advertisement activity. It also reports how many conversions you achieved through Facebook. Facebook does not offer you guesses. It offers numbers that speak for themselves.

Immediate Answers

Facebook is very fast — its results are concise, concrete, and timely. Once you start a campaign on Facebook, it can positively reach thousands of people within a few seconds leading to surge in customer curiosity. This translates into an increase in web-traffic towards your own website, and an increase in conversions. The best part is that all of this happens within no time at all.

Research, Insights and Analytics

Facebook is a potent and robust marketing tool. It offers amazing analytical tools that gather, analyze, and present user data in such a manner that it can be easily arranged according to their demography and preferences. You can easily segregate your target market towards your marketing campaign.

Competitor Knowledge

Facebook not only provides you with comprehensive knowledge about your own customers, it also offers information about your competitors. When you have knowledge about your competitors, and how they carry out their marketing campaigns, you get a competitive edge which allows you to be more specific in your marketing approach. This results in more conversions and increased profits.

The Final Word

Entrepreneurs are only beginning to understand the scope of using Facebook for marketing, and how it can enhance their business prospects in an ever-changing world. Smartphones and mobile devices have increased Facebook’s outreach manifold. These days everyone is connected all the time. The situation has opened new doors for marketers who are seeking ways of reaching worldwide audiences with much less associated costs. Facebook has proved its worth as a potent marketing tool. There is little doubt that it will beat all its peers in the marketing game.

Source: Pixabay

The iconic golden arches of McDonald’s stand tall and strong for all the world to see. Although the fast food chain has roots dating back to the 1940s, the brand remains a symbol of success among countless others – with over 40,000 restaurants in 118 countries across the globe.

While the logo has evolved to embrace aesthetics and innovation over the decades, it’s still easily identifiable as the sun. This blog discusses the fascinating journey of McDonald’s logo history, highlighting the changes in its design trends over the years. More importantly, we’ll dive deep into the essential qualities of the logo that make it instantly recognizable by all. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s get started.

The Evolution of McDonald’s Logo – From Past to Present

The story of McDonald’s logo evolution begins in 1940 when two brothers, Maurice and Richard McDonald, decided to open a small barbecue restaurant in San Bernardino, California. The original McDonald’s logo was much different from the one we see today. Back then, it was very basic, just a simple rectangle logo made up of three lines of text in black on a plain white background.

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By 1948, McDonald’s tweaked the logo, switching the color of the background and letters while adding an image of a smiling chef. More importantly, the logo was edited to incorporate several details to showcase the main selling points of the fast food chain.

For instance, the word ‘barbecue’ was replaced with ‘hamburgers’ as the latter was gaining more popularity in the US. The logo reflected the change that McDonald’s was now a hamburger joint. Plus, the super competitive price was added to both top corners, drawing attention to its budget-friendly meals. And finally, the phrase ’Buy em by the bag’ highlights another trending option – takeaway foods. This logo stayed with the brand for five years.

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But by 1953, the logo changed completely. Color was introduced along with a mascot named Speedee, a hamburger-faced chef, in the center of the logo. ‘McDonald’s’ in red lettering appeared for the first time, which we see still associated with the brand today.

While ‘15¢’ remained on the logo to indicate the price point hadn’t changed, a red banner reading ‘Coast to Coast’ symbolized the expansion of the brand in franchises. This logo stayed with the company for several years.

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As the logo changed, the McDonald brothers were also interested in altering another aspect of brand identity – building a restaurant with a golden arch on each side. Stanley Clark Meston saw the potential in such a design, not only to help the brand stand out dramatically but also to bring attention to the fast food chain. This double gold arch design played a key role in McDonald’s logo evolution, staying with the brand for years to come.

In 1961, the first version of the logo with the iconic golden arches was created by Jim Schindler. It was inspired by the architecture of the company’s restaurants designed by Meston, and it’s similar to the one we know today. The double arches overlapped to form an ‘M’ shape with the classic yellow and red colors of McDonald’s with the brand name appearing under it. The text remained consistent with just a few moderations over the years.

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By 1968, the logo was slightly modified. The inner ends of two arches converged into a single line instead of overlapping, making the logo look more like a letter ‘M’. The diagonal line was removed, and the brand name written in black crossed through the arches.

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In 1975, the design of the logo remained simple and classic. However, some changes were made to its colors. A red background text was introduced, while the McDonald’s text switched from black to white. Since this original McDonald’s logo is still used by the company, it is the most recognizable version of the brand, making the insignia instantly recognizable across all age groups.

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The drastic changes witnessed through the McDonald’s logo history ended after this phase. The logo had only slight variations incorporated into its design. For instance,  in 1992, the red background was removed, and a red trapezoid was added below the golden arches.

However, this change stayed for about a year before the brand removed all lettering to leave a plain logo – just the golden arches on its own. This minimalist version has remained more or less the same since then, looking modern and stylish for decades. And yes, the logo still makes people all over the world smile. The only difference is the use of a new tagline in 2003 – I’m lovin’ it to the logo.

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Lessons to Learn From McDonald’s Logo History

There’s no doubt McDonald’s logo is a great example of branding done right. Let’s highlight some of the key points:

1. Powerful Logo Design Elements

There are several design elements to consider, such as:

Shape

First off, the simplistic shape of the logo used by McDonald’s has been quite consistent for the past several decades. So people are already familiar with the golden arches that resemble an ’M’, helping to tie in the name of the fast food chain with the logo and reinforcing the brand. In fact, the shape of the logo can be traced back to the architecture of their first franchise, opened by Ray Kroc in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955.

Color

The logo utilizes two signature hues – red and yellow – to grab people’s attention. The use of these colors has become an essential aspect of brand identity and has stayed with the company for nearly half a century on its signs, packages, buildings, etc.

While McDonald’s color choice was influential in building its visual branding, the colors, on their own, also have a deeper meaning. Psychologists claim that the color red does more than recall the traditional red-and-white checked tablecloths used at diners across the US. It helps stimulate appetite and excitement. On the other hand, yellow is associated with happiness. So the brain processes these colors to create images of cheerful dining experiences.

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Font

McDonald’s introduced a custom sans-serif font in the 1960s, called McLawsuit, which is still being used to this day. The clear typography not only streamlines the logo’s appearance but also makes it legible in any size. The rounded edges and simplicity make the brand feel approachable and friendly. Additionally, the absence of visual clutter means there are no distracting elements. This allows the logo to stand out boldly, enabling people to instinctively associate it with the fast food chain.

2. Brand Visibility

While the logo appeared on everything, from packaging to advertising to signage, the McDonald’s corporation invested in developing the visibility of its brand even more. For instance, restaurants were made easily accessible on the US highway system. Moreover, they ensured most people lived within a three-minute drive of a McDonald’s joint. So customers were sure to encounter a McDonald’s wherever they went.

3. Progressive Efforts to Develop Brand Recognition

The design is based on the familiar arch used in the physical architecture of their restaurants. This strategy enables customers to instantly connect the logo with a feature they have seen at the location, an aspect that builds brand recognition in consumers of all ages.

But most of the McDonald’s appeal is directed towards children, like Ronald McDonald, the brightly-painted playgrounds, the tasty finger foods, and the free gifts in all their Happy Meals. Believe it or not, research suggests that children can recognize a brand logo before they recognize their name. Once you’ve got the kids hooked on the brand, they’ll likely be loyal customers for life.

Final Thoughts

The McDonald’s logo has an interesting story behind it. The success of this fast-food chain lies in the history and legacy of the Golden Arches. The story of McDonald’s logo history emphasizes the importance of basic elements such as shape, font, and color in creating a powerful logo.

Over the years, McDonald’s has perfected its visual identity, using a minimalistic approach with the right color palette to evoke the desired emotions from its customers. The logo stands as proof of the effectiveness of simplicity and consistency in branding.

The 4th of July is right around the corner, which means you do not have that much time to up your social media game or run promotions. Considering the fact the 4th of July is the biggest retail day of the year, there is absolutely no reason why you should miss out on it. Last year, sales were estimated to exceed $7 billion, and this year it will most likely increase by leaps and bounds.

So if you want a nice bump in sales, especially if you have had a hard time during summer, then you should take advantage of this 4th of July before it is too late. To aid you in your cause, here are some of the best marketing ideas that will allow you to fire up your 4th of July game like never before.

Offer Discounts

This should be a no-brainer when it comes to great marketing ideas for all seasons. For the 4th of July specifically, you will need to hold special promotions and sales. If you are wondering why, because it will work without fail. Shoppers are most active during this time of the year, and this is the perfect time for you to engage with them.

By running sales and specials for the 4th of July, you will let your target audience know you care. Incorporate a 4th of July theme in your campaign. Even if you can’t, there is nothing to worry about, but only as long as you run promotions and sales during the holiday week.

Patriotic Promotions and Sales Offers

If you have some great offers for the 4th of July, make sure you promote them on social media. Let your customers know that they should shop at your store.

Promote posts for your merchandise, and if need be, set up a Facebook ad with a patriotic offer of your very own. Not only is this is a quick way to get the word out, but it will attract old customers as well as new ones.

If you are concerned about overspending, fear not. Facebook ads are relatively cheap, not to mention easy to pull off. What is interesting is you can customize them for your current audience, or for an audience that has a similar demographic.

Show Your Patriotism on Social Media

Promoting posts about your merchandise on social media is not going to be enough. You will have to post pictures of your employees and customers celebrating their patriotism. There is no harm in showing your store either.

Wish everyone a great holiday, and share your posts as well those created by your customers. Got the extra mile by posting holiday graphics on Instagram, changing your Twitter or Facebook cover photos or sending out email specials.

If you are open during the holiday week, make sure you let your customers know about it so that they can visit your store.

To get your customers into the holiday spirit, create a DIY photo with patriotic props and backgrounds. What is the best about this approach is that it is inexpensive, and you will end up engaging your customers, making them happy in the process.

For each and every post, use a custom hashtag, encourage your customers to use those hashtags while sharing their content. If you want to increase the organic reach of your posts, share and tag your customers.

Add some Flare to your Push Notifications

Believe it or not, mobile messaging matters quite a bit, even more so during the days leading to the holiday.

Be strategic about your push notifications, spend as much time as possible to find the right words. With well-timed and quippy messages, you can increase your click throughs by entertaining your customers instead of solely focusing on selling something to them.

So while spreading the word about special events, holiday discounts and app-exclusive deals, make sure you do it in style.

Think Outside the Box

Some other great business marketing ideas involve thinking outside the box. Do not restrict yourself to strategies that have already been adopted by other businesses and brands. If you want to leave a lasting impression, then you will need to show your audience, and others too, that you are different from the rest.

Apart from the usual sales and promotions, you can tell great independence stories. Share your own or your customers’ to let them know that no sacrifice is in vain. For instance, you can tell a story about your own business and its struggles to reach where it is today.

On the other hand, you can commemorate the event by remembering those responsible for keeping the people and country safe. If possible, donate money to support a cause for veterans, or highlight the great things a local firefighter has done for his/her community.

These are just a few ways you can separate yourself from the rest of the crowd this 4th of July. The possibilities, are quite literally, limitless.

The aforementioned marketing ideas are great if you are not sure what to do this 4th of July. Make the most of this information so that you benefit from greater reach and an increase in sales. Remember, all of this only works if what you do is something your customers can relate to.

If you are looking for more top marketing ideas, you will find plenty more online. For this reason, make it a point do your own homework beforehand to find strategies and ideas that will best suit your business in particular. However, if you are not sure where to start, or if you are in desperate need of assistance, there is no harm in getting professional help, this applies to all aspects of marketing, be it content or website design.

It is that time of the year, and Superhero fans ranging across the DC universe are “justifiably” intrigued (pun intended). DC has finally announced not only the official series of Justice League logos for all of the individual members of this elite club but also released some really nifty footage from the all-new ‘Justice League Movie.’

As far as the logos are concerned, it is perfectly evident that the good people at DC have really gone over and above the call of duty (just like the superheroes they have created). Let us take a look at these logos one by one

Look Up, It’s A Bird… It’s A Plane…. No, It’s Superman!

The Kryptonian’s ‘Superman’ Logo has always struck deep into the hearts of the people who idealize him. The ‘Red Color Gradient ‘has been liberally mixed with the dark red color of blood. This is why it almost immediately strikes the viewer as mute testimony to his superhuman strength and other powers; all contained within this logo. In fact, it is difficult to tear one’s eyes away from a logo that just throbs with an alien power, of the kind that can dispatch evildoers in the blink of an eye. This logo is the ultimate showcase for massive power, held firmly in check by the inner goodness of the one man who has the privilege of wearing it.

The Dark Knight Rises In All His Glory

The ‘Bat logo’ is as old as Batman himself. It is the embodiment of a young boy’s transformation from a privileged and pampered child to the masked vigilante that evildoers love to hate and fear. It is an important reminder of the power of tragedy and how it can transform anyone into a wonderful source of justice. The simple yet powerful symbol of the bat is all black and designed to scare bad guys and anyone else who is in the thrall of the raw power behind the ‘black bat’ logo.

Wonder Woman: The Thrilling Amazon Princess

The new ‘Wonder Woman’ Logo is slightly reminiscent of the old WWF (World Wrestling Federation before its transformation,) thanks to its twin ‘W’ look. But here all resemblance ends once and for all. Nevertheless, the solid beak shape of the ‘middle W’ basically represents a bird in flight and is quite different from the old version of the same logo. The new braces on this logo also bring about a complete change in the overall look, and it portrays Wonder Woman as a bird that will tear down and sink her talons in the forces of evil. With this logo, it is easy to visualize her as an immortal individual who can tangle with the very gods and come out a winner!

Aquaman: The Undisputed King of the Seven Seas!

To say that this logo is unique would be a mild understatement! Aquaman has been part of the DC universe for almost 80 years, and his logo has gone through many iterations over the past few decades. However, this time around this logo has a muted and darker look. Especially since the emblem itself is redolent of the mysteries of the underwater world in which the man lives. It has intrigued not just Aquaman fans alone but conceptual designers, all over the world. Everyone is eager to see what the new Aquaman equipped with his emblematic logo will do in the upcoming Justice League movie.

Flash: Sheer Poetry in Motion

If ever a logo can be said to showcase poetry in motion. It would be the electricity bolt that Barry Allen carries on his chest to show the world that he is indeed ‘the fastest man alive.’ For a man who is faster than ‘greased lighting,’ this is a suitably apt logo. It brings with it a time-honored tradition in which the electric flash logo and the golden flash logo merge to create a highly symmetrical symbol that is a cause of great excitement for Flash’s myriad fans, all over the world.

Part Human, Part Machine… Complete Cyborg

This new logo is not just attractive but singularly appealing as well. It heralds the Cyborg’s entity as a brand-new member of the Justice League. The Cyborg is an interesting take on the ‘meta-human’ concept since he still retains his humanity while being a part machine. The DC comic reading fans will be used to this logo, but the people who have seen this bright red dot only in the movies. Well, all we can say is that they are in for the treat of a lifetime!

Conclusion

For all those fans who have been eagerly waiting for the all-new ‘Justice League Movie,’ the new justice league logos are a tantalizing teaser of what is to come. Going by the logos alone, we can safely assume that the movie will be the kind of blockbuster that will certainly keep the audience to the edge of their seats.