Amid the US Presidential election and the world financial meltdown, PepsiCo has filed patents for new logos for Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Gatorade. It took around 5 months for PepsiCo to revamp its well known logo.The new logo has very subtle changes. The white space in between has been modified to look like a smile for Pepsi, a grin for Diet Pepsi and a laugh for Pepsi Max. The letters of Pepsi have also been changed from all uppercase to all lowercase in addition to the change in the font.
"We felt like, as we move out of this traditional mass marketing and mass distribution era into today's culture, there's an opportunity to bring humanity back, both in terms of the design but also in the way we engage consumers," said Frank Cooper, Pepsi's VP-portfolio brands. "By making the logo more dynamic and more alive ... [it is] absolutely a huge step in the right direction."
This is the 11th logo in Pepsi's 110 years of existence. The last 21 years have seen 5 of the new logos. The latest logo has been a costly exercise. Experts put the estimates near $1 Mn, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. When you think of the places Pepsi has put up its logos - trucks, visi-coolers, vending machines, billboards, posters, atop the mom & pop stores, paan dukans... you know there is a long and expensive road ahead. It would cost more than a billion dollars to replace the logo worldwide.
The campaign is not expected to be rolled out soon. 2009 is the year when it would begin in US and by the time it reaches India, we would have accepted the new logo.
However, the important question that needs to be asked is how will this branding exercise revive the sales of carbonated drinks worldwide? The initiative looks like a campaign that is aimed at producing short term results. It would wear out as the novelty is lost. At times when colas are facing increased competition from outside the category products such as fruit juices and milk based products, how will this exercise chart a strategy that results in sustainable advantage?
