HOUSES

Your logo is a dead end.

I recently reviewed a brand in the asbestos industry. Their old logo was a green house. It was simple, direct, and entirely forgettable.

It described exactly what they did—work on buildings—but it communicated nothing about how they work, why they are superior to a competitor, or why they should be trusted with high-stakes surveys.

This is the Literalism Tax.

When your logo literally illustrates your job, you force the customer to view you as a commodity. You aren’t "The Specialist"; you’re just "The House Guy." Branding is not meant to describe your service; it is meant to signal your standard.

The practical takeaway: If you removed your company name from your logo, could your top three competitors use it without anyone noticing? If the answer is yes, you are paying the tax.