Pepsi's new look: Take II

OK, not to pick on Pepsi over their new logo design and how it was developed, but from where I sit the whole carbonated soft drink category seems crowded and confusing. Vanilla, cherry, diet, diet with no calories but with Ginseng, caffeine-free diet, zero...just what does it all mean and is it even offered by Pepsi and Coke anymore?

I believe there have been so many extensions of the Pepsi and Coke lines that it is very difficult for the consumer to know the differences and consumers become confused. When that confusion sets in for such low-involvement products, many times the consumer will just give up and either buy nothing at all, pick something that is known to be "good enough" or simply switch to a different category that is less confusing.

I recently went looking for Diet Pepsi Max at the grocery store and the picture above illustrates what I was looking for and what I found. Are these the same product? It just wasn't clear to me. When even the same product creates confusion in its packaging, loyal customers will simply give up on the product or just not care anymore. This defeats the whole branding effort. The more the branding is diluted and the more confusing the products become the fewer differences we see between Pepsi and Coke.

Did Pepsi misstep in switching to a new logo?

I don't know and the market will ultimately be the judge, but it seems to me that during these tough economic times that brands ought to be reassuring their customers that they are tried and true, familiar and the safe, trusted choice. I question the timing of Pepsi rolling out a new look more than anything else. It seems they created confusion at a time when simplicity is called for. As for the new logo itself, people will either love it or hate it and eventually just not really care anymore because it will fade into the noise of the category.

I give Pepsico credit, though. A recent Brandweek article tells the story of how Pepsi "invertised" to their organization prior to the roll-out of the new look. They made the right steps to make sure their messaging was grasped and embraced by their employees first prior to launching to the market.

We can learn an important lesson from this. If your organization does not understand what it is for which your brand stands then there is no chance that it will effectively projected and communicated outside your own walls and out in the marketplace.