I saw this question online and couldn’t resist. The word “like” is so vague. As a marketer, I’m trained to flush my own opinions aside to ask, “Why did they do that?”. You see, branding isn’t based on likes or dislikes. It’s a systematic process that builds the big picture.
I can tell you what I don’t like about the cup that sports the new logo; it’s a yucky brown color, doesn’t seem to match the store as well, doesn’t look as cool in my car’s cup holder, etc. You can see there’s not much there other than MY opinions.
The one thing I’ll say about the logo that I think is important is what they’ve done to their logo—THEY CHANGED IT! They took some liberties with the art that I think might be a mistake. They actually added 2 words. Not 2 valuable words, 2 expected words that don’t need to be said. They tried to take a logo {which, by the way, is already retro in style} and add more retro to it….?
A logo is the most precious piece of marketing real estate that you have. Please treat it as such. It’s not the place to play around, change for the sake of changing and definitely fight the urge to “add-to” it. It’s human nature, but it weakens and clutters the communication. I say, save the throw-back logo variations for Ford, Coke and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Theirs are authentic.
With that said, the amount of “buzz” that this change created has definitely had an impact on Starbucks. Google it. There are thousands of posts {like this one} that have people talking about their product. They most likely won’t stick with the new design, but will use it to boost short-term awareness. I’m sure Starbucks {one of the founders of the modern “brand age”} has a strategy behind this.
-Arrick
arrick@arrickdesign.com
