The price tag for some of the most iconic logos of all time varies drastically. While some of the most iconic brands in the world cost hundreds of millions of dollars to create, others got away with a check for just $15. Some spent nothing.
A good logo is crucial for a company's branding strategy.
While Pepsi recently redesigned its bottle, it decided to keep its logo, which it redesigned in 2008 for $1 million. (Signing Beyonce as a multi-year brand ambassador cost the company $50 million.)
Stock Logos—a site that offers, well, stock logos—has compiled a list that reveals how much Coca-Cola, Nike and other companies spent creating their logos.
But you'll be surprised which companies spent millions and which spent the cost of a movie ticket on their iconic images.
Microsoft: $0
The company used its own in-house design team to update its logo in 2012.
Google: $0
Although Google's famous, rainbow logo has gone through minor alterations over the years, the original design was created in 1998 by Google co-founder Sergey Brin on the free graphics program called GIMP. Then Ruth Kedar, a mutual friend of Brin and Larry Page from Stanford, got to work on other logo prototypes.
Coca-Cola: $0
Coke's famous logo was created by its founder's partner and bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, in 1886. According to the soft drink's website, Robinson "suggested the name Coca‑Cola, thinking that ‘the two Cs would look well in advertising’. He wanted to create a unique logo to go with it, and experimented writing the company’s name in elaborate Spencerian script, a form of penmanship characteristic of the time."
The best things in life are free.
Twitter: $15
Twitter bought rights to the now-famous Twitter bird for $15 on iStockphoto. Artist Simon Oxley, a British citizen living in Japan, might have only received $6 for his work—without a credit. However, the bird has undergone a recent makeover.
Nike: $35
Nike co-founder Phil Knight purchased the famous swoosh logo from graphic design student Carolyn Davidson in 1971. Knight was teaching an accounting class at Portland State University, and he heard Davidson talking about not being able to afford oil paints in the halls. That's when he offered her $2/hour to do charts, graphs, and finally a logo.
"I don't love it, but maybe it will grow on me," Knight said, after doling out $35 for the swoosh.
Enron: $33,000
Paul Rand was paid $33,000 for creating the Enron logo in the 1990s. Rand also created logos for ABC, IBM, UPS, NeXT, and Westinghouse.
Pepsi: $1 million
Arnell Group redesigned Pepsi's logo to the tune of $1 million in 2008. According to Stock Logos, "The listed prices include a complete branding package unless otherwise noted."
A 27-page document, titled "Breathtaking," was full of pop-culture buzz words explaining Arnell's methodology for the redesign. The report was mocked using phrases like: "Emotive forces shape the gestalt of the brand identity."
BBC: $1.8 million
The BBC made over its logo in 1997, switching from slanted fonts and splashes of color to the simple, letter boxes typed in Gill Sans.
Accenture: $100 million
The consultancy's change from "Arthur Andersen" to Accenture was one of the most expensive rebrandings of all time.