If someone were to ask you to draw the Pepsi logo from memory, what would you draw? A circle, perhaps, with the red, white and blue stripes that are emblematic of the brand. The word “Pepsi,” probably, in that globe.

When PepsiCo walks people through this exercise, as it sometimes does, that’s what most do: They put the word “Pepsi” in the circle. But that’s not how the current logo actually looks. The brand name is off to the side, a bit meek next to the iconic globe. So Pepsi is making a change.

“We couldn’t ignore that kind of insight,” said Mauro Porcini, PepsiCo’s chief design officer. “Instead of rejecting it, we decided to embrace it.” Pepsi on Tuesday unveiled a new logo and branding that will roll out in North America this fall and globally next year. It looks a lot like the 1990s version which seems to have stuck in people’s brain, but with new elements to make it more modern, including a different font and font color and a new border. The changes are designed not only to better align with people’s recollection, but to draw attention to Pepsi’s zero sugar line — a key part of the company’s growth plan.

Pepsi has been around for 125 years, and updates its branding every so often. The current visual identity was introduced in 2008. But in the years since it first appeared, it’s gone a bit stale. The “Pepsi” in the logo “is decoupled from the globe,” noted Todd Kaplan, Pepsi’s chief marketing officer. “It’s this lowercase, italicized font, the blue is a little bit muted … it doesn’t exude that confidence and energy that the brand really represents.”

Pepsi, Kaplan said, is “a bold and confident brand,” one that stands for “unapologetic enjoyment.” The current logo, with its lower-case “pepsi” standing shyly away from that laid-back globe? Not very bold, not very confident.

The new logo, with its punchy, upper-case “PEPSI” smack-dab in the middle of the circle, emblazoned across the white stripe undulating between the red and blue waves, is more like it.

It’s not unusual for companies to tweak their look to stay relevant, noted Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. But they have to be careful not to rock the boat too much. Major changes risk confusing or upsetting customers. He pointed to the Tropicana logo debacle as an example. In 2009, Tropicana changed its carton design so drastically that consumers were outraged. Tropicana, then owned by PepsiCo, changed its logo back within a few months.

For “brands that have a long history, you always can look backwards,” Calkins said. Tapping nostalgic images can be “very powerful.” But companies have to be careful to make sure the legacy branding feels fresh, he said.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【推出】tuīchū roll out introduce something especially for widespread sale to the public

【有冲击力的】yǒu chōngjīlì de punchy vivid, vibrant

如果有人让你凭记忆画出百事可乐的标志，你会怎么画？也许是一个圆圈，上面有代表品牌的红白蓝条纹，然后很可能在圆圈中加上“Pepsi”这个词。但这并不是它目前的标志。目前的标志中品牌名称被放置在图案一侧，显得有些不起眼。因此百事可乐要换标志。百事可乐公司首席设计官毛罗•波西尼表示：“我们无法忽视这种误解。我们决定接受而不是拒绝它。”本周二，百事可乐揭晓了今秋将在北美推出新标志和品牌形象，该形象将于明年在全球推广。它看起来很像上世纪90年代的版本，但加入了新元素，使用了不同的字体、颜色和边框，显得更现代。这些变化不仅能更好呼应人们的回忆，而且还吸引人们关注百事可乐的零糖系列 —— 这是公司增长计划的关键部分。

百事可乐已有125年的历史，并定期更新其品牌形象。目前的视觉形象是2008年推出的，但现在看起来已经有点过时了。百事可乐首席营销官托德•卡普兰指出现有标志中，“Pepsi”与图案“分开了”。它采用小写的斜体字，蓝色有些暗淡......没有真正表现出品牌代表的自信和活力。他说百事可乐“是个大胆、自信的品牌，代表着‘大方享受’。”目前的标志中，小写的“pepsi”羞怯地靠在球形图案旁边？不大胆也不自信。

新标志中大写的“PEPSI”直截了当地位于圆圈的中央，在红色和蓝色波浪之间起伏的白条上，更像它该有的样子。

西北大学凯洛格管理学院的营销教授蒂姆•卡尔金斯指出，公司调整产品外观以跟上时代很常见。但必须小心不要太激进。变化太大会让消费者感到困惑或不满。他以Tropicana改标志事件为例。2009年，Tropicana彻底改了外包装纸盒的设计，引起了消费者的愤怒。当时Tropicana是百事可乐旗下品牌，几个月后标志又改回了原样。卡尔金斯表示：“对于历史悠久的品牌，你总是可以从过去找灵感。”唤起怀旧的形象可以

“非常有力量”，但他说，公司必须确保传统的品牌形象有新鲜感。

(SD-Agencies)