happy 2009, all (yes, i’m aware january is almost over).

so, i’m obviously getting a late start in terms of blogging for the new year but i figured i’d talk a little bit about pepsi… i mean, everyone else is so why not?

now, unless you live under a rock or in some sort of underground/water cave, you’re probably aware of the fact that pepsi rebranded… again.

i think this is the seventh major rebrand that pepsi has ‘pioneered’ (can we even call it ‘pioneering’ at this point?) since it’s inception in the 1890s.  little known fact: pepsi was actually named “brad’s drink” (after its creator) before it was trademarked as “pepsi cola” in 1903.

i grew up on pepsi… to me, it was the nectar of the gods.  i referred to it as “P-E-P-S-ONE” (see the last three logos to the left to understand my pre-school reasoning here) – and that, i think at least, is proof that their brand was successful (not saying that it’s not now).  if a pre-schooler can recognize a logo or brand visually, that brand has succeeded… either that or i was a child genius – i guess i was born with a knack for branding and the like.  who knew?

anyhow, in october of 2008, pepsi revealed that it was working on a rebrand of their image, to be unveiled in early 2009… and sure enough, they came through.  i can’t remember exactly when they rolled out this multimillion dollar change (and we’re talking hundreds of millions, folks) but one thing that stuck out in my mind was that the very first commercial i saw in 2009 was a pepsi commercial.  well done, pepsi.

the first commercial that aired on whatever station i watched the ball drop on was pepsi’s “refresh everything” commercial.  now, if you’re going to launch a huge rebrand in 2009, that’s certainly the way to do it.  not only did i watch that commercial, i became totally enamored with it and just couldn’t manage to get it out of my head.
maybe i wasn’t so much enamored with the commercial itself (as i’m not so much a fan of the new logo), but of the brilliance behind the commercial.  it was well-executed, well thought out, and shit, it worked.  the commercial is pretty.  it’s bright, inviting and definitely evokes a sense of “happy new year!” and celebration.  again, well done, pepsi.

so, i said it.  i don’t really like the new logo.  not only am i not so fond of it, i just don’t quite see why the rebrand was even necessary.  i feel like branding, as of recent, has taken a more simple approach; and while the 2005 version of pepsi’s logo was a big loud, the pepsi “globe” was just fine the way it was, imo.  the new “globe” has been referred to as a “smile” – buy pepsi and you’ll see a medium smile, buy diet pepsi and you’ll see a skinny smile, and buy pepsi max and you’ll see a big ol’ smile.  i get the whole refresh theme, refresh = rebrand, i just don’t quite get why.

the new logo isn’t bad looking, not by any means… but for me, it totally takes away from what pepsi is.  strange as that may sound, i feel as though they have done such a great job on branding in the past that this is a bit of a shock; and a relatively unwelcome shock at that.  it can no longer be confused as “P-E-P-S-ONE”… that “I” is clearly an “i” and well, poo.  what gives?

influencer outreach.  somewhere that pepsi actually did a decent job.  pepsi reached out to bloggers; 25 in particular, chris brogan being the first i saw/read.  they sent these folks 3 shipments each, 20 minutes apart, via courier service – two boxes of empty throw-back pepsi cans and one with six full cans, featuring the new logo.  pepsi did quite a bit of research to pick only 25 people, and obviously those bloggers blogged about it; you would too if you received all those goodies.  therefore, pepsi’s attempt at blogger outreach was successful.  it created a frenzy in the blogosphere… people were totally obsessed in figuring out who the lucky 25 were… i’d think that if you want to generate buzz amongst us digital nerds, that’s probably the way to do it.  so yet again, well done, pepsi.

those creative folks at pepsi, they’re not so bad.  their new logo could have been worse, and as far as my opinion goes, it’s just that: my opinion.  i ver much liked my simple little globe.

either way, pepsi definitely gets brownie points for effort and execution.

i might be a bit late in adopting the desire to blog on pepsi’s rebrand, but i just got over the blech-ness of reading it on everyone and their grandmothers’ blogs.  so here’s my two cents.