You're only seeing the final product, not the work that goes into it. You might have graphics designers churn out a dozen or more different variations. Those logos need to be checked against any other existing trademarks. At some point, they also need to be tested in focus groups so that the average person can draw a link between the old logo and the new one; or if it's a new logo completely, ask if the logo makes enough of an impression for people to remember it later. There's research into whether the logo can be recognizable in all kinds of situations (e.g., what happens if you shrink it down to a 32x32 pixel square for social media? Etc.). Then there's all the regulatory and business hurdles of actually updating it.

Design and development of alternative logos and branding materials, including complete mock up of products, stores/restaurants, ads, etc. Focus groups, surveys, polling. Psychological studies, etc. When you're a multi-billion dollar brand with established worldwide recognition, you dot every I twice and cross every T three times when assessing any significant changes to your branding and image. Does it need to cost millions? Certainly not, but they're given a big budget and they're going to use all of it in case things don't go smoothly - those in charge of developing a new look want to be able to say they turned over every possible rock, explored every possible idea, etc.

Not a graphic designer but am friends with a few.

So the first part is you have to sit with the client and figure out whats wrong with their existing branding. Is it stodgy, old fashioned, out dated? If we revise it, are we going to alienate or lose what slice of our long-time customer demographic? what about the old branding can we retain in the revamp, and what can we toss? How many people relate to the "King", how many people find him super creepy. So... all of those "requirements" type meeting take maybe a few hundred hours - at $300/hr or more + expenses.

Then the designers go away and sketch up half a dozen new logos/brandings. Present to customer. Mind you, each one takes several days to prepare, its more than just the logo. Its how that logo appears on the letterhead, the website, the email footers, the actual bricks and mortar signage, the weekly newspring circular -it has to look good and convey the "message" of the new branding in ALL circumstances.

So each proposed new branding could take days or weeks to prepare. You make two dozen and present half a dozen to the customer. They hate every one. Back to the drawing board. And these are good designers who make $200+/hr - or at least that's what you charge the client for.

Go back and forth a few times, you've narrowed it down to 1-2 contenders. Now the focus groups. How does this new logo make you feel vs. the old one? Customer engagement research takes time and money.

So just the ideation here can run you many hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars and you haven't actually changed anything. You've finally picked the new look and feel of your brand. Now you go to actually make the change.

Sure, telling whoever prints your napkins and takeout bags to just ue the new logo is easy, and you'll consume the stock of old ones in about a week. The new logo doesn't cost any extra to print on a bag or napkin or paper cup than the old one. But now all of your locations have to change. The color scheme of all your interiors. Each location has a 40' lite up sign that needs to change - at $50k per and you have 4,000 locations nationwide. Who eats that? the franchisee or the chain? The franchisees fight back. Um no, Im not eating $200k to change my sign and redo my interior, the staff uniforms, the stupid forms that I use to schedule a bunch of high school kids just because you decided the Burger in Burger King needed to be revamped.

Suddenly you're looking at a tens of millions of dollars change. Seems less attractive. Maybe if we get Spike Jonze to do a Super Bowl commercial for us...

It's important to understand that corporations regularly do things stupidly.

Potential reasons why a branding exercise might cost more than you'd think:

• It's being driven by someone who has no idea what they want, they just don't like the status quo.
• It's being driven by someone who got approval for a large design budget and needs to spend it lest they not get access to a similar budget number for the following year.
• It's being driven by a consultant, who has sold some executive on the idea that a logo change is just what's needed to lift the company's sagging stock price.

Then you factor in things like focus groups and awareness campaigns and building renovations required to change signs and other, similar foolishness.

One of my friends told me how much it cost Dunkin Donuts to change over all the signage from Dunkin to DD. It was insane. There are several types/sizes of lighted signs, for instance, and it was crazy money for each one. And each location might have several.

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