Pepsi – for social drinkers

So, after 5 months of work, pepsi has finally come out with its logo. The new logo is supposed to be a ‘quantum leap’ in positioning and defining Pepsi as a cultural leader. The intent, I feel, is right, if we can go by the following words from Frank Cooper, Pepsi’s VP-portfolio brands, “We felt like, as we move out of this traditional mass marketing and mass distribution era into today’s culture, there’s an opportunity to bring humanity back, both in terms of the design but also in the way we engage consumers.” (via Adage)

Its not difficult to imagine the costs involved in such an exercise, for a global brand. The design cost itself is rumoured to be above $1 million. This 11th logo, in a history of 110 years, comes after 6 years. (the last  update was in 2002) The announcement campaign is expected to roll out in 2009. Experts have already started commenting about the new logo, we’ll come to that later.

Continuing on the lines of the strategic intent outlined by the Pepsi exec, Pepsi did a ‘DM’ exercise by sending 3 packages to 25 “digital and social media influencers”, in sequence, each package containing cans representing different logo designs. (via Adrants). They’ve also started a ‘Room’ on Friendfeed, called The Pepsi Cooler, where ‘room mates’ have conversations (moderated) about Pepsi. The last time I checked, there were 225 members, and some very interesting conversations. Again, the intent is just fine, and there are some interesting uses being made of Flickr and Wordle. Perhaps Pepsi is going about it right, to have branded water cooler conversations.

Some India specific talk before we get to the logo. India has seen a plethora of logo changes in the past few months- Hutch to Vodafone, Canara Bank, Shopper’s Stop, India Post, Union Bank of India, among others. Out of these, I’d say that Vodafone’s task was the toughest, in terms of ensuring logo changes at the ground level, because of the multitude of vendors. Though i believe that Vodafone did a decent job, i still see Hutch in many places.

That should throw some light on the magnitude of the task ahead for Pepsi. I don’t know how this works in the US, but in India, I’ve seen most Pepsi Coolers (supplied to restaurants, kirana stores) store everything but Pepsi – that incudes competitors like Coke to Nestle Curd!! And that thought made me consider the vast ocean of cultural and experiential differences that lie between the average friendfeed user and the Tier 3 town citizen, in a country like india. It matters, because Pepsi is a global brand!!

To me, the logo is a symbol

• for the consumer, a symbol of trust and association with the brand
• for the marketer, a symbol of the attributes that he wants the brand to stand for

Yes, a good logo can do a lot of work for the brand, and create associations in the consumer’s mind, but (say, for an FMCG brand like Pepsi) how much can the cool  new logo and the virtual rooms contribute to the experience of the real consumer, especially in India? Till I stopped consuming aerated drinks a couple of years back, I was a Pepsiholic, it had nothing to do with taste, and it had everything to do with the brand and its attitude. But i wonder how much the ‘brand’ matters in the Tier 3 town, where the concept of social networking, is the consumer walking to the ‘cool drinks’ shop, asking for a ‘thanda’ and the shopkeeper knowing which brand he is asking for, from experience.

I really don’t know if the ocean will ever be bridged, and whether the logo or the smart brand work happening digitally will ever make a difference to the vast majority of Indian consumers, many of whom have vaguely heard of the internet. With reference to the stated intent, I am intrigued, how will Pepsi become/create a social object in such a scenario, or will parts of the digital medium always be confined to a corner of the long tail?

until next time, non digital natives