Starbucks and their new logo
Comments(0) A company’s logo defines who they are and what they intend to do. Companies spend lots of money trying to perfect the logo and make it stand out. Some successful logos go beyond simply being the image of the company, but also become an effective marketing tool. For example, if you look at the logo for Coca-Cola, there is something about it that makes you thirsty.
Logo’s like these go beyond defining just the company, but also become the symbol of the industry. Another example is if you think about the Vodka industry – your mind immediately jumps to Absolut or Smirnoff. There are thousands of companies that make vodka, yet your mind jumps to these two companies because their logo’s stand out so much.
Sometimes logos are so effective that they need no words indicating the name of the company or the name of the industry. Think about the Nike “swoosh”. It is a simple tick that does not have any words on it and does not even have a little line under it saying “this is a sports company”. The company has done such a good job in branding itself, that the second you see the “swoosh”, you think of Nike.
Now Starbucks is trying to do the same thing. On Tuesday (the 40th birthday of Starbucks Coffee), they will unveil their new logo that does not have the words “Starbucks” or even “Coffee” on it. In an industry that is much more competitive than the sports industry for Nike, or the computing industry for Apple, it will be difficult to see what the outcome of this marketing plan is. Starbucks may be able to popularize the logo to a point where the mermaid, or two-tailed siren, defines the coffee shop industry. Or it may be a disaster, like GAP’s attempt at changing their logo.
