PURCHASE, N.Y. -- A day after PepsiCo announced it is redesigning the packaging for its Gatorade sports drinks, some of the companies other recent repackaging is drawing attention. Consumers walking down the soda aisle at the store are about to see a new look for Pepsi's carbonated soft drinks, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The change could be so dramatic, a few people might not realize at first glance that they are looking at Pepsi products. The company is prepared for some confusion, Frank Cooper, Pepsi-Cola North America vice president of [image-nocss] portfolio brands, which includes the company's core CSDs, told the newspaper.
"In the initial phases, and we're just in the seeding phase, I think there will be people who actually will not know it's Pepsi," Cooper said. "And that's okay. But I think there will be a small group of people who will be on the inside of it and who can start the conversation on their own terms."
As U.S. consumers continue to move away from CSDs, PepsiCo, a Purchase, N.Y.,-based snack foods and beverage giant, is placing a huge bet on a sweeping and somewhat cryptic brand makeover. The company has said it plans to spend $1.2 billion over the next three years to reinvigorate carbonated soft drinks.
It won't be easy. Both Pepsi and Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. are working to increase sales in a shrinking U.S. soda market. U.S. sales volume for carbonated soft drinks has declined for the past three years and is on track to fall again in 2008, according to figures from Beverage Digest.
After assessing the market, Pepsi decided dramatic action was needed, Cooper said.
"We decided, 'Hey, now is the time to make that fundamental shift,' " he said. "If we're going to capture the imagination of the consumer again, let's rethink at a fundamental level the relationship between our brand and the consumer."
The most visible change initially includes new logos and packages for PepsiCo beverages. The round red, white and blue Pepsi logo has evolved over the years from a bottle-cap design that Pepsi adopted as its official logo in 1962. It was last changed in 2002, when Pepsi started using a three-dimensional globe split by a white wave.
The new Pepsi-brand emblem takes a minimalist approach. It remains a red, white and blue circle, but the wave is gone. It has been replaced by a diagonal white slit intended to represent a "smile." The word "Pepsi" is included in lowercase letters.
Other major PepsiCo brands also are getting a new look. Sierra Mist, Pepsi's lemon-lime-flavored soft drink, has been given a blurry label, as though the name is emerging from a forest.
The company has not officially released the new Mountain Dew logo, but images are surfacing on the Internet that show "Mtn Dew" lettering set on a computerized topographical map of mountain peaks. PepsiCo's sports drink brand, Gatorade, will be emblazoned with a big letter "G."Click here to read CSP Daily News' previous report on the Gatorade reimage.
The new packages for the core soft-drink brands have started showing up in some stores and should replace the old cans and bottles on most store shelves by early next year. They're already stirring up heated debate on the Web, which has been a large part of the initial launch.
The logos have elicited a strong reaction in the graphic design community, said Armin Vit, a principal with Brooklyn, N.Y., design firm UnderConsideration LLC. The company runs a blog, underconsideration.com/brandnew, about corporate and brand identity work.
A posting about the Pepsi logo drew 400 responses, more than any other posting since the blog was started in 2006. Few responders were kind in their assessment. One referred to the logos as "brand butchering."
"I think 90% of the people just didn't like it," Vit said.
Pepsi is known for making changes in design, Vit said. While Coca-Cola has tweaked design over the years, the company is known for a classic cursive script logo and contour bottle, he said.
The new Pepsi logo, though, is confusing, Vit said. The logo changes depending on the product. It starts with a grin for Diet Pepsi and becomes a broad gap representing laughter for Pepsi Max.
"What are they supposed to mean?" Vit asked. "Is the Pepsi Max supposed to make me happiest? It was a little bit too convoluted."
The logos, though, are just one part of the effort to reconnect with consumers, Cooper said. Instead of a big media splash, Pepsi has started its marketing effort at the grassroots level.
The new campaign borrows heavily from what Mountain Dew has done for years, Cooper said. Mountain Dew targets core consumers with messages tied to extreme sports, video gaming and alternative music and art.
For the new Pepsi campaign, Pepsi has identified local "influencers"artists, chefs, community organizers and event plannersin cities across the United States, Cooper said.
Working with these influencers, products are starting to show up at intimate events, he said. It could be a concert at an old warehouse or an art exhibition for charity.
For the Pepsi brand, the company wants to set a tone of "optimism and youth," he said. "It's not about age," Cooper said. "It's about a mind-set, a way of approaching the world."
And if you're not one of the local influencers, don't worry. Pepsi will reach you, too. "Trust me, we will make it clear as we move along," Cooper said.
Pepsi has not said whether it will use a Super Bowl ad to unveil the logos, but it does have plans for mainstream media, he said.
"For us, the TV piece is critically important because of the reach," Cooper said. "We're definitely going down that path. But it's not the place we're starting from in terms of how we're thinking of engaging the consumer."
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