Pepsi has a new logo but does anybody care?

Kolkata: To commemorate its imminent 125th anniversary, Pepsi has unfurled a brand new logo which apparently captures its confidence and boldness with greater gusto. It visibly retains elements of the past while consciously adding frills for new-age digital consumers, as per the company communique.

This development resurrected memories of 1997, my very first year in Advertising just out of MICA. In those classical days, the logo was the holy grail of brands, more as an identity springboard than just trademark protection. Agencies were sacked overnight for logo casualness as zealous brand managers guarded them with Z Plus security protocols.

An integral element of the logo was the visual drama, crafted with much post facto validation by passionate artists. The swoosh of Nike was a constant benchmark, and many a failed poet now masquerading as an account planner attempted literary justice to this inspiration. All this romance was truly justified the day Nike ran advertising without the brand name being spelt out in words, such bravado unwitnessed since the Battle of Britain.

Those days the logo needed to be a blend of visual and typography as we were still living in an analogue age where charismatic identification was a starting point for credible identity. Visual elements became celebrities in their own right - the Wills Roundel, the Michelin Bibendum, the McDonald's Golden Arch and so much more. We built legends around these symbols and constructed a modern-day mental Coliseum where only gladiators of the finest pedigree dared to survive.

More importantly, brands then thrived on the culture of promise, built by articulate advertising on a foundation of glorious excesses. Colas in particular subscribe to the cult of exaggeration, as protagonists were inspired to perform beyond the brief as if possessed by patronizing demons. The logo became the public face of such daring escapades, a shortcut to desired meaning, relentlessly resolute while beckoningly aspirational.

But then, the world wide web with its set of unique opportunities and functional challenges proved to be the party pooper par imagination. The limitations of digital design ensured that flamboyant logo designs were persona non grata in this brave new world, the sultry curves replaced by kosher patterns. Ultimately and eventually, the most happening youth brands of our times demolished the prevailing pattern of logo romanticism as an ingredient towards brand love. Look no further than the greatest new-age brands for sufficient proof.

Even more importantly, the culture of brand affiliation moved significantly from promise to delivery, in this empowered digital age. P2P references, the successor to testimonials, are the new advocates for brands and customers of the day truly swear by them. The imagery comes increasingly from user affiliation which is real and not concocted, while performance deservedly has the final say.

In the context of all of the above, the dynamic new logo change of Pepsi comes across as an avoidable anachronism, a strategy of defunct marketing thinking. As defunct as the advertising gambits of the cola industry, still entrenched in a superhero depiction that is ridiculously irrelevant and not irreverent. Colas as a category are itself operating on virtual ventilators as conscious youth seek healthier solutions for self-projection.

Do permit the account planners, brand professors and market researchers to ascribe fine words and even finer emotions to the Pepsi logo change and the press release is just preliminary evidence. What they know well but care not to admit is that it just does not matter any more. The fizz is clearly elsewhere as is the party.