For both new companies and established brands, a logo is crucial to brand messaging and development costs can vary tremendously.

Google paid $0 for their logo while Accenture shelled out a staggering $100 million for what seems to be a very simple design. Would you pay $100 million for an arrow?

UK-based HUH magazine recently published a list of what some top companies paid for their logos.

The article is interesting on the surface, but doesn’t really capture the bigger picture

There are several factors to consider when branding a company. A brand is not a logo, but rather a symbol that represents the entire brand. Sometimes – see the pricier items – a new logo must redefine an existing company as part of a larger strategy. Other times, a logo becomes an identified brand through the later actions and success of the company.

We ran this article by a friend in the advertising industry and this is his response:

“Interesting article, but how they measure these things is not exactly clear,” he said. “Nike got their logo from an art student before they actually knew what they wanted to do with their brand – and the brand developed itself independent of the logo. BP’s new logo on the other hand was just one of the many materials output from a serious brand relaunch.“

He added: “The logos themselves did not cost what is listed. The main point is that the logos with the big price tags actually delivered more than just a logo.”

There is also a big difference between a startup with little cash and an established corporation trying to reinvent itself (see BP).

So what is your logo worth?