

Brand New blog's revised Pepsi vs. Coke branding chart - tptacek
http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/coca-cola_vs_pepsi_revised_edition.php

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halo
I'm not sure I agree with the criticism of Pepsi over their changing brand. I
think changing their brand to be distinct and more modern to contrast against
Coca-Cola's is a reasonable decision, and through the early years Pepsi looked
like the cheap Coke knock-off they essentially were, which presumably was the
image they were trying to shed through their more modern branding.

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ams1
To be sure, even in Armin's revised timeline, the earliest script Coca-Cola
logo is very similar to today's version, where the Pepsi logo went through
many drastic changes. This, rather than absolute accuracy, I believe, was the
point of the original JPG.

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smokinn
And Pepsi is sure to have at least another drastic change in the future since
I don't know a single person that doesn't think the current logo is terrible.

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derefr
To me, it's not even the logo that's the problem with their current branding
(as represented on actual bottles/boxes of product); it's the fact that, given
the solid, sparse colors and the lack of copyright emblems or extra PR-shpeel
on the label, _they look like a no-name brand_ , a cheap knock-off of
themselves made by a company that's not allowed to be them.

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jrockway
It just doesn't look like anything.

The first time I saw the logo was at O'Hare aiport. I thought it was an ad for
Korean Air.

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10ren
BTW: Coke describes their logo as the "dynamic ribbon device" (in Australia,
anyway).

Fun fact: Coke has added some BS to the legal fine print on the can:

    
    
        "(C) 2008 The Coca-cola company, LOVINGLY CRAFTED by Coca-cola Amatil (AUST.) PTY LED, ..." etc
        "This TOTALLY IRRESISTIBLE  cola drink contains: carbonated purified water, ..." etc.
    

I mean, why not use the legally required fine print for advertising? It's
post-modern. I've had this thought myself, though I can see someone eventually
going too far and regretting it in court.

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ErrantX
a uk magazine I write for ends their disclaimer on the back page with a jokey
sentence or 2 about their week. It's the first thing I read now that I knoew
about it - like a cult thing.

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10ren
I think it's more informative to judge a brand by the profitability of the
company owning it. I like to use return on equity:

    
    
                       | Coca-Cola Co. | PepsiCo
      return on equity | 27.51%        | 34.83%
    

I was expecting Coke (KO) to be way ahead, but actually Pepsi is trouncing
them - over the last 12 months, according to Wolfram).

<http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=KO+PEP> (you need to change the drop-
down menu from "Fundamentals" to "ratios" - wolfram doesn't seem to have a way
to get a link with a particular menu selection).

OK, so here's data that better fits my preconceptions, looking at the rat e of
growth of equity, over the last 3 years:

    
    
             2005          2008 
      Coke:  29,427.00 --> 40,519.00 = 37.7% over 3 years
      Pepsi: 31,727.00 --> 35,994.00 = 13.4% over 3 years
    

[http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:KO&fstype=ii](http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:KO&fstype=ii)
(balance sheet, annual data)

[http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:PEP&fstype=ii](http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:PEP&fstype=ii)
(balance sheet, annual data)

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mohawk
I think you should look at return on assets, return on equity is too easily
skewed by leverage.

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10ren
How so? I thought debt will cancel out in calculating net equity (e.g. you
borrow $100 million to buy a $100 million plant, and the net equity is
unchanged).

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taitems
I don't think anyone took the original graphic too seriously, it obviously
omitted a lot of things, but was always in jest. All that aside, Coca-Cola has
the most synergy throughout their logos. That's 100 or so years of roughly the
same logo.

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dangoldin
It would be pretty difficult to find another global company that's been around
for more than 100 years. I think if you look at local companies that have been
around for that long, you'll find that their logos have been pretty stable -
after this many years, keeping the old logo is the marketing move to make.

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taitems
But that's where you're wrong, there are quite a few global brands that have
been around for much more than 100 years. Heinz, Levis, Wines, Champagnes,
Newspapers, Banks.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies>

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dangoldin
I actually took a quick glance at the list before I posted but couldn't
immediately see any recognizable names.

Thanks for looking into it though!

