Starbucks coffee in a bold move served up a new blended logo and they are quickly receiving mixed reviews. The public outcry is not even close the recent uproar caused by the Gap debacle. But the brew is certainly heating up a debate on their Facebook page, which has over 19 million fans and the company blog. The Gap quickly learned the hard way how brutal the graphic community on the web can be. "Gap thanks for everyone's input on the new logo! we've had the same logo for 20+ years, and this is just one of the things we're changing we know, this logo created a lot of buzz and we're thrilled to see passionate debates unfold." After feeling the heat from a viral campaign Gap revered back to their original logo. Starbucks appears to be moving ahead with their new logo which removes the shackles from the Siren, but dropped the name-without the name the brand looks bland.
CEO Howard Shultz seemed to have given a bit more thought to the logo design and presented a brief history. But that still didn't stop over 500 hundred people from leaving comments on the companies blog. Shultz's introduced the logo change in a video and posted the evolution of the logo over the years, he feels the new logo is more in line with where the company is headed in the future. Many customers appreciated the nostalgic stroll down memory lane, but they don't feel a connection to the new logo-maybe the new logo will grow on you over time. Edward Ecannata offered his own rendition of the new logo which some customers quickly warmed up to his design on the blog.
Customers grow attached to a companies logo even a slight deviation in color can adversely affect on customers perception. Malcolm Gladwell in his book Blink tells the story of a great marketing icon of the twentieth-century Luis Cheskin. Cheskin recalls the response when they added 15% more yellow to the green on the 7-UP can. "What people report is that the taste experience has a lot more lime or lemon flavor and people were upset. 'You are changing my 7-UP! Don't do a 'New Coke on me.' Starbucks change in logo may have a sensation transference. Over the years customers have developed a relationship with the brand and experience slowly warming them up to the change or even soliciting feedback from customers would prevent some backlash.
Shultz's tried to reassure customers that Starbucks will remain the worlds number one purveyor of coffee. "The Siren is our muse she always inspires us, liberating her from the ring is more aligned with where the company is headed." Only time and consumer palates will tell if Shultz bet on the new logo was the right choice.
Comments
Amazing how passionate people become over things... Starbucks should be very thankful for all their loyal supporters.
Change can be good sometimes though, but too drastic a change can be bad. It's amazing how my slight alteration - connecting the new logo to the past - is comforting and makes the new design much more acceptable. I hope they adopt my version into the final design.
Edward your dead on man people hold the same passion for some brands like their favorite sports team..
WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!!! The logo as it stands now has "POP" to it. The new logo just sort of flows into the white of the cup. I understand the reasoning for the change, but why not just drop the word "coffee". We all love Starbucks, but don't think you are so "cool" that you don't need your name on your product!
Hum? dropping the word coffee... thats cool DMV to since the are looking to expand into other areas makes sense.
I think this was a great move, really cleans and simplifies. Makes it stand out even more. They are a unique company that has shops on all four corners of every intersection. Everyone knows what that picture is.
Pretty gutsy move. I wonder if they will adopt any of the changes.
I understand why Starbucks wants a new logo, but if you compare the new Starbucks logo with other major brands that use logos without their names in them, like Target, McDonalds and Nike, you can see that the Starbucks logo is too visually complex. These other brands have about 2-3 "visual elements" in their logos, but because the mermaid is line art and some of the lines bleed to the edge of the logo, it looks like it has 27 visual elements (counting each line as an element). I posted some detail and visual comparisons at http://analy.tc/dSR6kg.
Aaron I thought of Apple, Target, and Nike as brands without their name attached but I can't image what Starbucks would use.
I agree with DMV, just drop the word coffee...the logo looks lost.
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