DISCUSSION
Pepsi Brings Its Name Back Front And Center
Written by RetailWire Staff
Photo: PepsiCo, Inc.
If when you think of Pepsi’s logo, you think of a circle divided up into wavy red, white and blue portions with the brand name in the center, you are not alone, according to CNN. PepsiCo has found that when it asks customers to envision and describe the logo, this tends to be their answer. The name Pepsi, however, has not appeared printed in the center of the brand’s iconic circle since 1997. Or at least that was the case until last week.
PepsiCo unveiled the redesigned logo for its flagship soda line in late March. The new logo places the brand name in the middle of the circle where everyone expects it to be, embracing an insight about consumer expectations that the CPG giant’s chief design officer Mauro Porcini told CNN was “impossible to ignore.”
The 2023 logo, with “Pepsi” written in a block black font in the white segment of the circle, resembles a combination of the design used between 1950 and 1986 (which featured black text at the center, extending beyond the white segment) and the one used from 1987 to 1997 (which had blue text filling the white segment). The redesign marks the 125th anniversary of the brand. It is meant to exude “great energy and confidence and boldness” while also drawing attention to the brand’s zero sugar line.
PepsiCo’s last logo redesign in 2008 turned into a PR fiasco thanks to a leaked design brief from the agency undertaking the project. The brief detailing the multi-million-dollar redesign contained 27 pages of high-concept reasoning behind the minor changes to the logo, was criticized by outlets like Fast Company as being hyperbolic, pseudo-scientific and ridiculous.
The 2023 logo refresh is not the only change that PepsiCo has made to its soda lineup this year.
PepsiCo discontinued Sierra Mist in January, Today reported. The lemon-lime soda, which remained on the market for 23 years, never caught up in popularity with Coca-Cola’s Sprite or Keurig Dr Pepper’s 7 Up. When Sierra Mist was discontinued, PepsiCo announced the launch of Starry, a lemon-lime soda the company called “bright, optimistic, and rooted in culture and fun.”