You have probably seen this document before, but I find it fascinating. There was a supposed leak of Pepsi’s ideation document supporting their new logo. Pepsi spent millions of dollars on their re-brand and it looks like the Arnell Group spent a huge sum of it to come up with this document. Attached is the document.
At first I thought it was a joke. As I read the document, I realized it was not a hoax, but completely misdirected. It is amazing the amount of time and energy that went into this document to sell the idea of Pepsi’s new logo. The Arnell Group used this to deliver an ego boost to the Pepsi executives so they could be justified on the money they spent for the logo. The general public was never meant to see this document and it is a shame that it has.
While I’m not much of a soda drinker, I was beginning to think that Pepsi did a good job with the re-brand. I did not think (like most) that the logo was designed to mimic Obama’s logo. The similarities are few and far between. I’m also not sure it is better than their former logo. What I did think they did a good job with was the packaging. It is simple and clean, causing it to stand out in the visual chaos of the soda pop aisle. For once, I thought Pepsi was not following in the tracks of Coca-Cola.
Now all I can think about is how egocentric and out of left field this logo is. Maybe Pepsi can do something to change my mind in the future. It is going to take a great deal to overcome my feelings about them, because as it goes in branding:
Perception > Behavior > Reality.
4 responses so far ↓
Tara Joyce // February 18, 2009 at 10:39 pm |
Corben,
Wow, thank you for sharing that document with me. I have often imagined the ridiculous analysis and hot-air-blowing that occurs in multi-million ner billion-dollar advertising. You have provided me with a fascinating window in.
If only a different logo would actually make me want to drink more Pepsi…
Tara Joyce
wumpworld // February 19, 2009 at 5:22 am |
It is amazing how people start to think and act with that much money and pressure on the line.
Corbet
Jeff Barlow // March 25, 2009 at 5:37 am |
The only thing more difficult than creating an authentic document like this would be to try faking it. I wish I had the guy who did that pitch working for me. There’s no doubt he could sell anything to anyone.
The sad thing I see there is that there is no reference anywhere to what Pepsi’s brand or value proposition, or consumer loyalty. The entire effort is to try create a bunch of visual “rules” to a symbol that has no meaning. When the consumer sees the logo they’re not going to read smiles, or golden rectangles, or nautilus spirals. All they’re going to see is “that circle means PEPSI.” I would have put the effort into working on what “Pepsi” means. If they ever figure that out. It’ll be easy to make a logo that carries that meaning.
wumpworld // March 25, 2009 at 5:51 am |
I could not agree more Jeff. Context is extremely important. A logo can only show what it is made out of, not the thinking behind it. If the logo carries no meaning that is translatable to the consumer what does that say about that brand.