Logo Evolution – The Pepsi Story
When we are born, we are given an identity and that identity is our name. This isn’t something we are not aware of, nor were the people in the early days. However, they were not aware of the fact that creating identities for their businesses is exactly the same as naming a person and hold similar benefits. Later in the 13th century, people realized the need for creating different ciphers which they carved on the coins to do trade. They felt that there should be something they could do trade with, other than the exchange of goods with other men. They wanted to differentiate their goods with others. How could they do it?
They started by creating coins with carved in ciphers. All were different from one another to avoid confusion. Besides, they started creating different stamps to use as their trademark. They used to have simple designs on their currencies and stamps which benefitted them a lot. From there onwards they realized the significance of creating identities for their businesses. People expanded their trades and converted them into industries. This is how industries started evolving and with that, the need to give them recognition was felt.
However, with the advancement of time and technology, those trademarks started to convert into proper logo designs and amongst those logo designs, evolved brands…Remarkable brands!
With time many companies gained popularity and recognition partly because of their brand identities, which proved to be unique and creative. Today, professional logo for any business organization is considered a must.
There is a mushroom growth of businesses now a days. Every other person starts his/ her business on a small level but no matter how small your business is, you need to have a logo for it. And with time you further have to evolve your logo by modifying it to take your business to the next level.
Have a look at how Pepsi worked on its logo from 1898 till date:
Let’s get on with an example of one of the biggest soft drinks company, Pepsi and see how this company has adopted the idea of creating an identity for itself and to what extent it has been modified over time.
In 1980’s, Pharmacist Celeb Bradham started this company by the name of ‘Brad’s drink in New Bern, North Carolina. He had no company logo by that time, which proved good for him since he soon realized that there should be some other name for his company, so he changed it to ‘Pepsi-Cola’ and decided to have a registered logo for it which is visible in the 1898 logo.
The new name Pepsi-Cola became so popular among the masses that it was trademarked in 1903 and hasn’t been changed till date. In 1905, Bradham decided to modify the font type of the logo to make it more readable. However, there were no design changes as such.
One year later, he thought to add the word ‘Drink’ in the logo and made the fonts bolder than before.
In 1933, the company was bought by Loft, Inc. The company changed the bottle size from 6 to 12 oz. and came up with the ‘Refreshing and Healthful’ logo. The word ‘Drink’ was again removed from the new Pepsi-Cola logo.
However, the major breakthrough in the Pepsi logo design came in 1940’s. Walter Mack, the CEO of Pepsi came up with the idea of a new bottle design, with a crown having the Pepsi logo. The ‘Pepsi Globe’ emerged when USA was in WWII, and to support the country’s war efforts, Pepsi had a blue, red and white logo. This logo became hugely popular, and went on to be the identifier for the company.
As a result, in 1950 and 1962, this bottle cap with the swirling blue and red became prominent in the company logo. During the 1960’s when it became even more popular, the script was changed from the curly red, and the main attraction was on the bottle cap in the logo.
We see the first appearance of the Pepsi Globe instead of the bottle cap in 1973. The typeface was made smaller so as to fit in the globe. The Pepsi Globe was “boxed in”, with a red bar coming in from the left and a light-blue bar coming in from the right.
Later in 1991, the typeface was moved from inside the globe. The red bar was lengthened and the typeface came on the top of the globe.
The white background in the logo was replaced by the blue color, which also resulted in dropping the red horizontal band in 1988. The globe now had 3D graphic and larger than earlier versions. The name ‘the Pepsi Globe’ was given to the logo since both Pepsi and the globe were touching each other.
After 1998, Pepsi changed its logo and gave the globe more prominence than the script itself. So, the globe came on top of the script in 2003.
And now in their current logo they have removed the script altogether. The logo has a central white band arcing at different angles with red and blue parts on either side.
This is how Pepsi has modified its logo overtime. Though the transitions were subtle but they kept giving their logo a fresher look to keep the brand alive. Do write in the comments section if there is anything you can add to it or give your examples of how other company logos evolved with time.
Author’s bio:
This is guest post from Ben Johnson of Logoinn, custom logo design service provider based in UK.
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Filed Under: Marketing Tools-Resources • Online Marketing Tips
Awesome story, though I like the 1950′s pepsi logo more that current one
Great article. I really love the logo of pepsi because its so simple but really catchy. great post!
Good Info
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Good post keep rocking man
nice article keep going man
Personally i did it by buying an update off ebay which then gives you the instructions and a step by step guide which is really easy to follow. I did this on pro evolution 2008 on the PS3.
The problem with PES is that they don’t have license for lots of national teams and club teams so sometimes they change certain names and stuff. for the teams that are altered, you can change pretty much everything, the name, the emblem the colors even the jersey.
Hi,
It would be good if it was abstract green like that with gold or red letters saying the team name or Just Evo for short but your the pro so just talk to me if u have anymore ideas by the way my Xbox live Gamertag is Affter Fx.
Pepsi is cool, the evolution of those guys will never slow down.
Regards,
Jay
nice article….it have good info…
I am making a comic for a story called Chicken Pepsi. I don’t know a good plot, but I want it to be somewhere in between action/adventure/comedy. The main character is Jib. And the villain is Hunter.
After seventeen years of success, Caleb Bradham lost Pepsi Cola. He had gambled on the fluctuations of sugar prices during W.W.I, believing that sugar prices would continue to rise but they fell instead leaving Caleb Bradham with an overpriced sugar inventory.
The great day came, the first bottle of Coke was about to roll off from the assembly line, the president of the country, the national TV channel’s cameras and reporters were all there.
Pepsi logo design is cool, the evolution of those guys will never slow down.
The presentation was good and the conference was informative.
Several references were made to using Heatmaps for Ad placement.
The wonderful day came, the first bottle of Coke was about to roll off from the assembly line, the president with the country, the national Tv channel’s cameras and reporters had been all there.
the very first bottle of Coke was about to roll off from the assembly line, the president of the country, the national Television channel’s cameras and reporters had been all there.
the president of the country, the national Television channel’s cameras and reporters were all there.
The good day came, the first bottle of Coke was about to roll off from the assembly line, the president of the nation, the national Tv channel’s cameras and reporters were all there.
Personally i did it by purchasing an update off ebay which then provides you the guidelines along with a move by stage guide which can be actually quick to abide by. I did this on pro evolution 2008 on the PS3.
Personally i did it by purchasing an update off ebay which then provides you the guidelines plus a stage by move guide that is definitely simple to adhere to. I did this on pro evolution 2008 on the PS3.
The new name Pepsi-Cola became so popular among the masses that it was trademarked in 1903 and hasn’t been changed till date. In 1905, Bradham made a decision to modify the font sort with the logo to create it much more readable. On the other hand, there were no design alterations as such.
Great post. I really love the logo of Pepsi because its so simple but really catchy,thanks for sharing the post.
Pepsi logo design is cool, the evolution of those guys will never slow down.
pepsi ? am like but beatiful ice
Fun to look at the Logos evolve and change threw our the years, can’t believe what it looked like at one point in their history!
Til then,
Jean
hey buddy,ye dil mange more.thanks………..
Awesome post dude … helped a lot ..
hahahahha..:) i really enjoyed this Pepsi story..!! nice one keep it up..!!!
I have to say; it is pretty hard to beat that 1950 logo.
ohh great to Liston this story about Pepsi Logo…
thanks a lot for explaining…
nice tips…Logo really matters for any company…
i like this blog.
Brilliant work! I like your idea and how you come up with this topic. did you spend a lot of time searching for each logo? .. great historian.
thanks. now i know, and i laugh at those old logo… new generation is the best!
Personally i did it by buying an update off ebay which then gives you the instructions and a step by step guide which is really easy to follow. I did this on pro evolution 2008 on the PS3. That would be my advice, it’s pretty cheap too.
coca cola has a rich flavor but Pepsi has more acidic taste and doesn’t go flat easily so i love Pepsi better,……
Fun to look at the Logos evolve and change threw our the years, can’t believe what it looked like at one point in their history!
Til then,
you sites really beatiful thanks