• by John Gaffney , May 1, 2003

What's in a logo? Not as much as it used to be, according to a new survey from New York-based marketing consultancy Brand Keys.

The company's Fashion Index shows that the percent-of-contribution logos make to the customer's loyalty to one brand or another has decreased dramatically for two years in a row. When asked how important apparel brand logos and labels are to consumers today versus a few years ago, nearly two-thirds (61%) of the 7,500 respondents polled reported that they are less important.

"Nearly all logos are valuable as long as consumers think they are important and are worth paying for. The problem is that logos-as-brand-differentiators have decreased in the importance they play in the actual purchase process," said Robert Passikoff, President, Brand Keys. "It's not the 'bunker' mentality we observed after September 11. It's a genuine return to basic, solid, unadorned American values, and it's being reflected in the way consumers are reacting to the value of a logo generally, and to particular logos specifically. The weak economy just compounds things."

Eight (8) new brands revealed themselves in the current wave of research. Interestingly, half were what could be described as "catalog" brands. Three were for blue jeans brands. All seem to reflect "American Values." The new brands appearing in the survey include Eddie Bauer, J. Crew, L.L. Bean, Land's End, Lee and Old Navy.

The study also reported that women were significantly more likely than men to report that clothing logos and labels are now less important to them than they used to be. Examining the results by age, the oldest age group (45-59) was the most likely to say that the importance of logos and labels had declined (69%).

What was surprising was that even among the youngest age group (21 to 34), over twice as many respondents said logos and labels are now less important to them.