Print ArticleThere's a lot of chatter these days about the decision in April by Starbucks to revive its original logo. This is not a new move for the coffee giant -- in 2006, its original "Siren" was paraded out on coffee cups to mark the company's 35th anniversary.
The move by Starbucks has startled a lot of coffee drinkers, who are flummoxed by the Siren's color -- a muddy brown color that one of my friends described as "positively fecal." It's not necessarily something that everyone notices right away; it's just that there's something that's not quite right.
The Starbucks green is just one of those details that have seeped into our collective consciousness. You'd recognize a blue Coca-Cola logo -- but it would seem very, very odd.
And then there's the Siren herself. An almost perfect match for a 15th-century woodcut of a two-tailed mermaid - with the exception of a flatter stomach and a bigger smile -- the Starbuck's original logo was graphic and earthy. You have to remember -- when this brand was conceived, coffee was a grown-up drink. In 1971, sexy was great, and the woodcut favored the then-trend that hearkened back to hand-made things.
However, when the brand went national, advertising execs rightly assumed that not every place in the country was going to be ripe for a twin-tailed mermaid spreading her fins for coffee. The logo evolved to eventually focus on her face, cutting out most of the twin-tail image altogether. In addition, the Siren's hair grew to cover her toplessness.
In short, Starbucks was sanitized, and the company was in position to offer coffee to the masses - even kids!
Certainly the decision to trot out the original logo was made to get some Starbucks buzz going. In the wake of cheap coffee drinks offered by an increasing number of fast-food restaurants, higher coffee prices in general, and the too-much-money-not-green-enough criticisms that are part and parcel of being a global corporate concern, the company needs to rev up its dialogue.
This situation brings to mind the concerns that you have when managing your personal brand message. There's no question about the fact that your brand, like any, will have to evolve to fit the needs of the times. However, if you bounce around too much, it's likely that you'll confuse your audience.
Starbucks has been around since 1971. During that time, the brand has been carefully managed not only to meet, but to take advantage of the changing times. When health advocates began decrying soda as chemical soup, Starbucks stepped in with an alternative that came in many flavors. In addition, by making a Starbucks coffee shop a place you could stay with your laptop and work on your novel for six or twelve hours at a time, a whole new generation of coffee drinkers -- who needed wireless Internet -- was born.
Your personal brand may not be able to take so many incarnations. First of all, you're not in hundreds of magazines each month, or on television. You've probably not had your branding message out there for nearly four decades.
Remember -- tweak as needed. But don't fiddle with your personal brand so much that it becomes too confusing to discern.
The move by Starbucks has startled a lot of coffee drinkers, who are flummoxed by the Siren's color -- a muddy brown color that one of my friends described as "positively fecal." It's not necessarily something that everyone notices right away; it's just that there's something that's not quite right.
The Starbucks green is just one of those details that have seeped into our collective consciousness. You'd recognize a blue Coca-Cola logo -- but it would seem very, very odd.
And then there's the Siren herself. An almost perfect match for a 15th-century woodcut of a two-tailed mermaid - with the exception of a flatter stomach and a bigger smile -- the Starbuck's original logo was graphic and earthy. You have to remember -- when this brand was conceived, coffee was a grown-up drink. In 1971, sexy was great, and the woodcut favored the then-trend that hearkened back to hand-made things.
However, when the brand went national, advertising execs rightly assumed that not every place in the country was going to be ripe for a twin-tailed mermaid spreading her fins for coffee. The logo evolved to eventually focus on her face, cutting out most of the twin-tail image altogether. In addition, the Siren's hair grew to cover her toplessness.
In short, Starbucks was sanitized, and the company was in position to offer coffee to the masses - even kids!
Certainly the decision to trot out the original logo was made to get some Starbucks buzz going. In the wake of cheap coffee drinks offered by an increasing number of fast-food restaurants, higher coffee prices in general, and the too-much-money-not-green-enough criticisms that are part and parcel of being a global corporate concern, the company needs to rev up its dialogue.
This situation brings to mind the concerns that you have when managing your personal brand message. There's no question about the fact that your brand, like any, will have to evolve to fit the needs of the times. However, if you bounce around too much, it's likely that you'll confuse your audience.
Starbucks has been around since 1971. During that time, the brand has been carefully managed not only to meet, but to take advantage of the changing times. When health advocates began decrying soda as chemical soup, Starbucks stepped in with an alternative that came in many flavors. In addition, by making a Starbucks coffee shop a place you could stay with your laptop and work on your novel for six or twelve hours at a time, a whole new generation of coffee drinkers -- who needed wireless Internet -- was born.
Your personal brand may not be able to take so many incarnations. First of all, you're not in hundreds of magazines each month, or on television. You've probably not had your branding message out there for nearly four decades.
Remember -- tweak as needed. But don't fiddle with your personal brand so much that it becomes too confusing to discern.
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