Pepsi’s new brand identity: Not what I call “refreshing”.
Occasionally brands need a little refreshing. Pepsi recently announced that it is canning BBDO Worldwide, which has produced campaigns for the brand since 1960, in an effort “to refresh Pepsi’s communications,” according to Dave Burwick, the new chief marketing officer for the PepsiCo North America beverages division. PepsiCo also selected the Arnell Group as its design agency for brand identity and packaging.
Well, pardon the pun, I am not so sure there is anything “refreshing” at all about the new Pepsi identity that Arnell just designed. In fact, it seems like such a missed opportunity…and an amazing waste of money.
Theoretically, the new logo is much improved and much more dynamic because it flashes a smile. That may be so…but when I look at the new packaging it seems generic and impersonal….and that does not make me smile at all. Lately a few venerable brands have undergone makeovers that I think are questionable: AT&T and Xerox, for example. Pepsi is the latest one to join the group.
In the case of AT&T, in an attempt to make the unfriendly company come across as more approachable, the classic logo became dimensionalized. Surely AT&T wanted to come across as a contemporary, friendly and dynamic company. Instead, the symbol seems executed by a design student trying too hard to make something look cool.
Then there is the new Xerox logo. Again, I’m sure that someone thought that the digitized X that we had come to associate with Xerox had become obsolete…and that the company’s sophisticated digital solutions were not properly represented by something that actually looked digitized. Apparently “the sphere-shaped symbol with lines that link to form an illustrative “X,” represents Xerox’s connections to its customers, partners, industry and innovation”. Personally, I think it looks like a red version of the Xbox360 logo.
Now we have the new Pepsi logo. After months of work…during which time much consideration was given to “preserving the heritage of the Pepsi brand, while creating a more vibrant and energetic logo that will help Pepsi connect with its customers”. As a result of all this effort, in my opinion, the designers came up with something just as impersonal as the old logo. According to some reports the re-brand will cost the company in the neighborhood of $1.2 billion.
However, as I am fond of saying “a logo does not a brand make”. So, let’s take a look at the packaging…which is probably the most important manifestation of this brand. When I take a look at the “before and after” images, I can’t help but feel a mix of confusion, disapproval and disappointment. Perhaps Pepsi is trying to be more minimalist…but I think it the brand just comes across as generic and cheap. Is this design better? Will it make any difference at all?
Lastly…I wonder about the strategy behind the logo modifications that are featured on the cans of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, and Pepsi Max. I guess that Pepsi Max is supposed to make my smile bigger?
Really….what is the point? I am not smiling.
Please feel free to comment!
Alfredo Muccino
Chief Creative Officer
Liquid Agency | Brand Marketing
11 Comments so far
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I couldn’t agree with you more, Alfredo.
I’m totally baffled by the “smile scale”. I don’t drink regular sodas… so personally, I would equate Diet Pepsi with greatest level of happiness. As consumers, shouldn’t it be up to us to decide which product contains the most happiness?
The brand message here seems to be: Happiness = sugar and caffeine.
Also, side by side, the new bottles look like a Pac-man animation.
Thanks for sharing. Great blog!
A really good observation on the new Pepsi logo. I initially thought that they had tried to integrate the letter ‘P’ shape into the logo. The logos like Pepsi, AT&T and Xerox that have “claimed” to refresh have no significant difference to the older ones. Infact, I would honestly feel that in their cases “Old is Gold”. The reason to why Pepsi, Xerox and AT&T have gained worldwide popularity is because of their original logos. In the case of the Pepsi’s package design, I do have a sense of ‘dejavu’. It may be trying to be a “follower” to its greater competitor brand- Coke. The difference is that with “new Coke”, it is a promotional packaging that changes with time; But they also still keep the original products and packaging with the traditional logos (Always CocaCola). The new Pepsi logo is trying to look abstract and it is an obvious strategy where the other end of the smile points towards the word “Pepsi”. When a large FMCG company whch may have invested dollars in researching and in customer’s psychology: that seem to have resulted in ‘distortion’ using New Illustrator tools - I just noded my head. I ask myself and realise more strongly about the importance of ‘Core Values’ and ‘Honesty’ a brand always need to reflect on.
I apologise to mis-lead in my comment earlier. But the new logos of Pepsi, AT&T and Xerox actaully have “significant difference” to their original logos. The difference is that they have lost their sense of ‘originality’ and have moved backwards rathar than forward.
http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/pepsi_new_bottles.php
That’s funny, Zack. Personally, I’m happier sipping a martini than a soda.
Usman: Thanks for posting a comment. Although designing logos is definitely something we do, there are times when I don’t see much value in it. I think there is a reason why some logos are called “icons”….and some should not be messed with.
I definitely agree with you on the fact that the new identities for Pepsi, AT&T and Xerox are not necessarily improvements. In the case of Pepsi…it’s a shame, since the previous logo was just as devoid of personality as the new one…and I would have loved having had a chance to re-do it. In fact, maybe I’ll turn it into a spec exercise project at Liquid…and maybe I’ll open the challenge up to other design firms just for fun.
Stay tuned.
BTW: I will be writing about Coke next.
Alfredo -
We know you are busy at CES… but thought you’d be interested to see what else PepsiCo’s been doing in its packaging overhaul efforts this week. Latest unveiling — the new Tropicana packaging and campaign. It follows in the vein of the minimalist Pepsi style - but I swear I’ve bought a generic brand that looked just like this one.
Hi Martha:
Did you mean to include a link to the Tropicana stuff?
[…] trying to transform themselves. Some rebranding efforts, like those coming from beverage giant PepsiCo seem purely cosmetic with not much changed besides the exterior […]
My first thought when seeing the new pepsi logo was how similar it was to the Obama campaign logo — perhaps positioning to be the ‘hope’ and ‘change’ brand?
Pepsi, serving the anti-organic camp, should flaunt-it not try to deny-it. The hyper drink delivers the same trendy sport-energy does it not?….so why advertising that says, “regret?” Just a thought….
(I hit your website due to: B2B, B2C..My lic. plate says 2Bis2C)