BRAND INFECTION » pepsi

Evolution Or Revolution: What Branding Strategy Pays Off? The Cola Wars Of Pepsi Vs Coke

Christiane Moore — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 06:22:47 +0000

Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola have been archenemies for over a hundred years. But although their main product is very similar in both taste and color, their branding strategies couldn’t be any further apart.

While Coca Cola has only been modifying their initial logo in a very subtle, almost ninja-like way (there’s been very little, but consistent changes, which only become apparent really when comparing the first one to the latest version), Pepsi instead kept reinventing their logo every bunch of years and have by now a pretty impressive number of “old” logos that would be enough material for almost a year of branding studies.

Let’s have a closer insight at the pros and cons of each strategy.

When Dr. John Stith Pemberton started selling his brand new beverage (Coca Cola) in 1886, it was his bookkeeper who came up with the idea for the now so famous logo and name, by combining the two Cs with his own unique handwriting.
In 1898, Caleb Bradham gave birth to his own creation of similar ingridients (and therefore similar taste and color), initially named it Brad’s drink, but soon renamed it to Pepsi Cola to reflect the actual main ingredients. Interestingly enough, the first 4 generations of logo for the Pepsi beverage have a remarkable resemblance with the one from Coca Cola.

This is where the similarities end. From here on, Coca Cola has been continuously trying to keep up with the changes of time by including interesting slogans, modernizing their can/bottle design in a subtle way and by generally tweaking their brand, without ever trying to reinvent it and/or revolutionize their corporate design.

Pepsi Cola, on the other end, has gone through so many different logos, that the initial concept has absolutely nothing in common anymore with the current one, other than the word “Pepsi”. Even the second part of the name (Cola), that initially was part of the brand, has now disappeared.

So what we have here are two very different approaches for such a long-term brand, and I think Coca Cola seems to have been doing their homework much more accurately than Pepsi. By not changing their logo more than necessary, Coca Cola has achieved to be very consistent in our memory, no matter whether old or young. And if you had a good memory of Coca Cola back when you were young (let’s assume it was long ago), and Coca Cola had been a big part of your life, then this is more or less what you will be thinking about it nowadays when you hear someone mentioning the name ‘Coca Cola’. You’ll remember the red can (or the unforgettable cult bottle), you’ll remember the logo, you’ll remember the distinct taste of it, and it’ll all feel like Coca Cola hasn’t aged a bit. It is still the same feeling it was back then.
Pepsi, on the other hand, is (memory-wise) nothing like it used to be. Although the beverage in itself hasn’t really changed, the logo and the base colors have, in fact the base color has never been the same throughout the world (some countries have always had Pepsi with different base colors). While some of us will remember it as the ‘famous’ blue-red ball (similar to the ying-yang symbol), new generations won’t get this benefit as the logo has changed so much that basically nothing of that blue-red ball is left (somehow it’s still there, but it looks very different).

Pepsi is trying so hard to give the impression they’ve changed, one is actually lead to think the taste has changed as well, thus making their customers wonder if their good old beloved beverage still exists. Of course, that doubt can be quickly put to side by buying one of the new cans and trying out whether this has happened or not, but as we all know, the mind has a big impact on how we feel about something we taste, and we might be left with the impression that the modern beverage contained in those new shiny modern cans with that fancy new logo is, indeed, a newly tasting Pepsi Cola (even though it really isn’t), and with a bit of bad luck, we might not like that self-suggested new taste.

On another note, this shows on a very basic level how the logo itself is not the reason a product is immensely successful. It may emphasize the quality and/or speak to a specific audience you are trying to reach, it may additionally improve the way customers remember a product, it may even make the difference between buying for the first time or rather not doing so, but it will never, under any circumstances, replace the good quality product itself.

What the logo does, is that it makes you connect the memory and the values you have come to know from a product with that portrayed brand. By changing the logo a lot of times, customers are forced to associate new values and new memories with that new logo over and over again. Possibly the reason why Pepsi has still it’s good ol’ shady place hidden behind the much bigger (and more consistent) image of it’s ever so long rival, and winner of the Cola Wars : Coca Cola.

Pepsi Redesign Gets Official

Nader Cserny — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 08:57:14 +0000

Pepsi reached out to 25 “digital and social media influencers” with three separately-shipped packages. The first contained five cans representing logo design from 1898 to 1950. The second contained five cans from 1962 to 1998. The third contained the newly launched can design – six of them full of actual Pepsi. Also included was a short video which you can watch here.

Pepsi Logo Redesign

Nader Cserny — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 07:24:46 +0000

One of the biggest rebrandings in history will take place over the next months and years. Pepsi Co will be revamping the design and identities of their key brands while their sales drop between 2% and 5% in various beverage categories. Only the logo, designed by New York-based Arnell Group has been released so far.

Old vs. New: Pepsi with a smile

From AdAge:
PepsiCo today said it will pour some $1.2 billion over three years into a push that will include sweeping changes to its brands, including what Chairman-CEO Indra Nooyi characterized as a revamp of “every aspect of the brand proposition for our key [carbonated soft drink] brands. How they look, how they’re packaged, how they will be merchandised on the shelves, and how they connect with consumers.”

“Tropicana will also be differentiated, enabling us to re-engage consumers with this iconic brand.”

“We’re initiating similar upgrades for the entire Gatorade line, which will have an entirely new contemporary identity, and there will be exciting innovations for both G2 and Tiger and a renewed Propel platform.”

This is how the new cans and bottles will look like. In my opinion the more modern font for the word mark “pepsi” works well but the overall design of cans and bottles is a bit too cheap. Noticed that the logo of Diet Pepsi has a different curve than the rest?

The white band in the middle of the logo will now loosely form a series of smiles. A “smile” will characterize brand Pepsi, while a “grin” is used for Diet Pepsi and a “laugh” is used for Pepsi Max. Also, Mountain Dew will be rebranded as Mtn Dew. The news was first reported in Beverage Digest.

Pepsi New Cans

Pepsi New Bottles

From BevNET:
The brand’s blue and red globe trademark will become a series of “smiles,” with the central white band arcing at different angles depending on the product. Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Pepsi Max will use all lower-case fonts for name brands. Gatorade will also receive a redesign, focusing the brand on the letter G.

Changes will include a graphical redesign of core Pepsi CSDs Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Sierra Mist and a rebranding of some products. Mountain Dew will be renamed as “Mtn Dew” on packages, and Diet Pepsi Max will be known as simply Pepsi Max.

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Evolution Or Revolution: What Branding Strategy Pays Off? The Cola Wars Of Pepsi Vs Coke

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