Thursday, May 28, 2009

What's in a brand?


A) Engraving of a twin-tailed siren (15th century); B) First Starbucks logo (1971 - 1987); C) Il Giornale logo; D) Merging of Starbucks and Il Giornale (1987 - 1992); E) Redesigned Starbucks logo (1992 - today); F) Current Starbucks logo, a revival of the original - SeriosEats.com

What's in a brand? Better yet, what's in a logo? The staying power behind the Starbucks logo is in its intricacy, its layers. It carries with it a sense of timelessness. Just look at its now old, logo (E above)...they could have left it to simply the text. But instead they created an image, literally, taken from history which in turn created a story and more depth behind the brand. 

3 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 29, 2009

    It's kind of disappointing to me that they revived the original...we went to the Pike's Place original store just to get the original logo...now the new one is so similar to that first one. I heard they stopped using the first one because they were too risqué...ha ha, maybe we have progressed enough that now it's not again!

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  2. I agree with the risque appeal...it kinda looks like a hairy man with boobs! Let's see what it does to sales - my guess: nothing. They're impervious to failure. I'd love to duplicate their success. Thanks for your input!

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  3. AnonymousMay 29, 2009

    I'll bet it gives customers who know anything about the logo history (and maybe those who don't) the illusion of a closer connection with their neighborhood starbucks, distracting them from the fact that starbucks is more like mcdonald's than a neighborhood coffee house! maybe it is good for business!

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