Bored with Your Logo? Think Twice.
The Nike Swoosh Beats a Naked Mermaid Any Day
Vol. 7, Issue No. 1 | January 11, 2011 By Denny Hatch
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IN THE NEWS
Starbucks’ New LogoIn March, Starbucks will celebrate their 40th anniversary with the launch of a new logo and identity. Howard Schultz says that new logo embraces and respects their identity plus evolves the company to a point that’s more suitable to the future. In this video, the CEO says that the logo at the core the same—the love of the coffee but by putting the Siren outside the original logo it allows the company to move beyond just being a purveyor of coffee.
—Starbucks Press Release
Jan. 5, 2011
When Peggy and I moved to Center City Philadelphia nearly 20 years ago, around the block from our 1817 row house was a typical, tacky pizza shop on the corner of Fourth St. and raffish South St. Every morning when I walked the dog in the area, discarded pizza crusts and paper waste were all over the sidewalk and in the gutter. The dog was in hog heaven; I found it disgusting.
Suddenly the pizza shop was replaced by Starbucks. I was thrilled. Good coffee and terrific snacks. The enthusiastic young baristas (clerks who make coffee) are up and at ‘em at 4:45 a.m. preparing for the 5:30 opening. And the place is always clean and tidy. For 16 years, Starbucks has been a great neighbor and presumably profitable.
Many years ago, Seattle direct marketing guru Bob Hacker took Peggy and me on a sightseeing tour of his city and we stopped for a requisite cuppa Joe at Starbucks’ first store at the Pike’s Place Market. I felt part of American corporate history.
In Madrid several years ago, I was delighted to spy the Starbucks logo just down the street where I could bring a couple of coffees back to the room well before our out-of-the-way hotel dining room opened for breakfast.
At the Starbucks down the street from our hotel in Geneva, two small coffees, two blueberry muffins and a small bottle of orange juice was a whopping US$27.50, but hey! the little muffins were loaded with juicy blueberries and it was all lots cheaper than the US$32 per person continental breakfast at the hotel.
In fact, just about anywhere in the world, Starbucks is a welcome sight.
Now suddenly Starbucks’ has decided to change its logo. It is deleting the word “STARBUCKS,” deleting the word “COFFEE” and being represented by a naked green cartoony mermaid with a Miss America tiara and two fish tails.
Will she become the Nike Swoosh of world-class coffee? I don’t think so.
“If it ain’t broke,” said Jimmy Carter’s budget guy Bert Lance, “don’t fix it.”
Good advice.
Starbucks on the Rocks
In 2000, after 18 years with Starbucks, CEO Howard Schultz stepped down as CEO and stayed on as chairman. At that time, Starbucks was opening seven new outlets a day with an eye toward 30,000 worldwide. Schultz spent much of his time engineering the expansion into brand extensions—books, CDs, motion picture production and a wide variety of snacks and meals.
Takeaways to Consider
- With 50 years of direct marketing under my belt, I’ve seen a great many successful controls scrapped, simply because management and marketing were bored with them and an agency wanted to pick up some juicy additional billings. The same is true in the world of logos.
- Always test—and back test—carefully away from a successful control before rolling out.
- “Just as a nation's flag expresses the distinct identity of a country, so, too, a logo helps to establish the name and define the character of a corporation. Effective logos become synonymous with the organizations they portray. They are instantly recognized by millions of people, and help to identify their companies and convey a message about the brands for which they stand. Nike, McDonald's and Coca-Cola logos are some of the most globally recognized logos.”
—Dinesh, Dinesh.com - “[A logo] should look just as good in 15-foot letters on top of company headquarters as it does one-sixteenth of an inch tall on company stationery.”
—Stephen Gilliatt, Managing Director NY, The Partners, Branding and Design - "Logos and branding are so important. In a big part of the world, people cannot read French or English—but are great in remembering signs."
—Karl Lagerfeld, German Fashion Designer - “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
—Bert Lance - “If it ain’t broke, break it.”
—Michael Lee Aday (a.k.a. Meat Loaf) - When you walk into a dark room and get hit over the head with a two-by-four, it’s not a good idea to go back into that dark room.
- Do not get so swept up in the excitement of the new venture that you cease concentrating on the core business and the core customers. As the late direct marketing guru Dick Benson put it, “Who’s looking after mama?”
Companies Mentioned:
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