Saturday, August 30, 2008

Fizzing Up a Major Brand

Once you own you one of the most well-known brands in the world, you generally don’t want to screw around with it.

Then again, no brand can stay the same forever. Times change. Tastes shift. And the brand must move on.

Right now, Coca-Cola seems to be doing just that – moving forward with some innovative approaches to product design and styling.

I’ve always considered Coca-Cola to be a fairly conservative organization, but according to this BusinessWeek article, the company has been working on some major changes to its branding and identity.

According to the article, David Butler, Coca-Cola’s Vice President of Design was given some interesting direction when he joined the company:

When he was hired in 2003 by then Creative Director Esther Lee, he was given a mandate: “We need to do more with design. Go figure it out.” Figuring it out isn’t easy at a company with some 350 brands, more than 300 bottling partners, and countless retail partners in more than 200 countries.

But some five years later he oversees a global team of 60 designers who focus on everything from brand identity to bottle design to coolers and vending machines to licensed goods.

Butler calls it “the Post-It Note mandate.” Imagine the freedom that comes with such a bold assignment with limited direction.

So here is some of what Coca-Cola has been up to:

Aluminum Bottle

Coke now is available in an aluminum bottle. It turns out that aluminum “feels colder” than glass or plastic, but is less expensive and more recyclable. Looks pretty cool to me:

A more integrated look

Here’s an example of how various Coca-Cola products form a tighter, more consistent brand identity. The Coca-Cola product itself does not appear to have changed much, but the Coke Light and Coke Zero brands far more integrated into the overall look:

Cooler Coolers

This is a new design for a “sculptural cooler,” the kind you see in supermarkets and convenience stores. It’s hard to tell from the image, but they say that the handle is “more ergonomic” and that the coolers use about 40% less energy than before:

Entertaining Vending Machines

The BusinessWeek article points out that Coca-Cola now has more than 300 different models of vending machines. Well here’s another one—a more high-tech version with a built-in display device that can present audio and video:

At one time, Coca-Cola was the most widely recognized brand in the world. I’m not sure that’s true anymore, but it’s certainly among the world’s leaders. Imagine the privilege (and the pressure) of working on an assignment like this one.

Posted by Richard Bloch

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