For years I've watched the battle between Coke and Pepsi, both as a consumer and a graphic designer. I've always liked their long history and the intense competition between them. I was intimately involved with advertising, working at a large advertising agency when New Coke came out. I read each week's Advertising Age and Adweek with a passion, trying to determine who was ahead. In hindsight, New Coke was a huge marketing fiasco that did more positive for Coke than any advertising campaign or new logo could ever do. It made people keenly aware of how much they liked, or loved Coke/Coca-Cola and how much it was part of their life.
Pepsi had been close to beating Coke in sales due to expensive youth-orientated advertising and the famous taste test. They were “the Choice of the New Generation”. Or so everyone believed, even Coke. With that, Coke blinked. They changed their formula to be more like Pepsi. They created a new look for the Coke logotype. What they didn't realize is that people liked Coke for the way it was. Coke tastes better to many when you drink an entire glass because of its slightly more bitter taste. Pepsi tasted well in short bursts, especially the Taste Test, but is a little too sweet for some for an entire glass.
After the PR nightmare of New Coke, Coca-Cola Classic saw a resurgence in sales. Combined with the sales of New Coke, they pulled well ahead of Pepsi. New Coke faded away but the sales of Coca-Cola remained high. Coca-Cola did especially well in fountain sales. Pepsi has never got close to beating Coke on its own again. Through the years Pepsi tried many ways to outdo Coke. Many of those changes were in the Pepsi logo and can/bottle design. Coke fought back by dipping into the nostalgic consciousness of the consumer by resurrecting the old Coca-Cola logo and bottle shape for their plastic bottles. Where was Pepsi to turn?
Pepsi's colors have always been red, white and blue. Very American, but never as American as Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola went to war with us during World War II. Pepsi tried to increase the red in their identity but they could never be more red than Coke. I remember how happy I was when I saw that Pepsi decided to go blue. Why not? They could never own "red". Coke had that. But they could own "blue". Blue wasn't part of Coke's identity. Pepsi finally had something Coke didn't and, for me, it worked. It had impact and was recognizable.
Through the last 10 years or so I've seen Coke and Pepsi flail with new flavors and varieties of their core offerings. Vanilla Coke. Pepsi with lime. Diet versions. Caffeine-free versions. Then there were the expansions into other drink areas – Gatorade, Snapple, and all sorts of things, with limited success. In the end, it was still the core drinks that made the most money and had the most value as a brand.
Coke has had the upper hand for a while and now, Pepsi blinked. Pepsi's big mistake is that they changed their logo and package designs drastically. In their constant pursuit to be hip and young, they have walked away from their brand identity. They have a new symbol that changes on every product variation and doesn't look, at all, like their previous symbol. The colors have changed so the blue is so dark it might as well be black. The new logotype is drastically different from the previous version. It's much lighter and has less impact. I haven't seen the sales results but I can't think they are better than before the change.
The cost to change an identity or packaging is always steep, but it can be done gradually if the changes are gradual. These changes are drastic and will lead to confusion with the consumer. Just look at the recent uproar over the changes to the Tropicana brand and their packaging. 35 million dollars were spent just to advertise that change. The consumer was confused by the new package and didn't like it. Now the company is going back to the previous package design.
There hasn’t been as large an uproar by the consumer over the new Pepsi identity. That's probably because Pepsi has always tweaked their look a little over time. I’ve seen a lot of new advertising that tries to use the new symbol as if the consumer should recognize it. It doesn’t work. I think the real results of this change will be seen more in the long term through loss of sales, weakened brand awareness and, ultimately, lower profits. And do you know who did the new Pepsi identity and packaging design? The same company that did the new Tropicana design.
Personally and as a designer, I hate the new look. They went too far. It irritates me every time I see it. I drink both Pepsi and Coca-Cola so my opinion isn't based on the way Pepsi tastes. It's the lack of visual good taste.
http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/in_brief_pepsi_gets_official.php
http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/pepsi_new_bottles.php
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/aaron-perry-zucker/new-ideas/pepsi-design-process-explained
http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2008/10/what-is-pepsi-t.html
- Jon (See my page)
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