It turns out that big companies have their share of marketing blunders. Now, more than ever, the consumers have an incredible power over the outcome of the marketing decisions. Case in point: PepsiCo.

Recently, PepsiCo embarked in two very costly efforts - costly both financially and PR value. The company engaged Omnicom Group to redesign the familiar orange with a straw design and to update the Pepsi logo.

The first was the new Tropicana packaging. The result generated lots of interesting comments from consumers, such as "ugly", "resembles bargain private label packaging", or "stupid". And the power of the internet gave consumers one more platform to take their frustration to. Groups in Facebook, lots of twitts, YouTube videos were so effective that they forced the company to revert to the old packaging only after couple of months on the market.
                                                   

The second one was the logo itself. According to industry sources, the company spent several hundred million dollars to redesign the logo. In exchange for that money, the agency created a 27-page presentation, titled "Breathtaking Design Strategy". In it, the agency associated every single important event, theory, or design to the Pepsi log. From Leonardo da Vinci's Ventruvian man, to the earth itself, to Feng Shui, Pepsi was ever present.

 

The end result - a logo that resembles both the Obama campaign and the Korean Air's logos. So much so, that the focus groups and scientific research showed that the Chinese consumers are very confused. Consequently, the company decided not to introduce the new logo in China, its largest market.


Korean Air     Obama Campaign     Pepsi Logo