Via Boing Boing

It’s Starbucks 40th anniversary this week. You may have noticed their Foursquare campaign aimed at spreading the love and giving away gift cards to a select number of folks who check in before Saturday. Their new branding also started appearing in stores this week.

I wrote about their new wordless logo a few months ago. Although I was skeptical then, I have to say I really like the look now that’s it’s being put into place. The cup design is so simple and clean. I never consciously thought about needing more white-space on my daily dose of caffeine, but it really makes a difference. Check out The Dieline for more of these mouthwatering packaging pics.

Has your location rolled out the new designs yet? What do you think?

Has the recent trail of carnage left in the wake of logo changes by Gap, Tropicana and Pepsi really led us here? Is the fear of consumer backlash so great that established brands now think such innocuous tweaks to their identity qualify as rebranding? Maybe the negative reception last year to the new Seattle’s Best Coffee logo (a Starbucks company holding) left them gun-shy.

This better-safe-than-sorry approach may backfire. While their senior creative manager gushes about the design details of the new logo on Starbucks blog, many of the post’s 100+ comments seem to be negative. “We improved composition, brought in more sophisticated stroke width and spacing and a smoother line flow. When it came to her – the Siren – we enhanced her form in subtle ways, smoothing her hair, refining her facial features, weighting the scales on her tail to bring the focus to her face. We enlisted the branding firm of Lippincott to help with these refinements, and give us a better global perspective on the entire identity system.”

It’s interesting to me that they seem to be emphasizing the evolution of the logo as much as the logo itself. The following official photo is available for download on their website and appeared with most of the coverage today.

Brand Autopsy has more details on the Starbucks logo through the years.

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 – 2010); F. Pike’s Place Roast logo (2008), a revival of the original which spawned it’s own controversy

Despite the anniversary tie-in, it’s an odd move to make. They had record profits last year and are hardly suffering consumer awareness problems. BNET’s Jim Edwards thinks there’s more to it. “It appears to be a mere evolution of the chain’s existing identity but is actually a representative of Starbucks’ abandonment of its core equity.” He calls it brand worsification, “what happens when a perfectly good brand with a solid record in selling, say, coffee, suddenly decides it can sell anything.”

It is true that the change is meant to represent the company’s expansion beyond coffee into a wider array of business lines and international markets. “What is really important here is an evolutionary refinement of the logo, which is a mirror image of the strategy,” said Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks. “This is not just, let’s wake up one day and change our logo.”

Terry Davenport, Starbucks svp of marketing, tells Adweek: “Obviously with a brand with such a huge profile as Starbucks, we approach this change very sensitively. We actually explored a very wide range of options, and when we stood back and looked from afar as well as looked close, we all unanimously gravitated toward the images that freed the siren from the word mark. We really took inspiration from companies like Nike where at one point they separated the word ‘Nike’ from the swoosh in their logo. This allows us to bring our identity to life anytime and anywhere.”

Perhaps the destiny of all mega-brand logos is a swoosh, a bullseye, an ‘M’, a shell, an apple with a bite out of it or whatever the hell Pepsi’s mark is. I’m still not convinced. I’ll keep drinking your coffee, Starbucks, but I have my eye on you.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your opinion in the comments.

Buy some beans and make a difference

Three Avocados is a non-profit coffee company whose  proceeds help bring clean water to Uganda. The coffee is darn good too, made with hand-picked 100% Arabica beans from Mt. Elgon in Uganda.

Perk up your playlist
There’s nothing like songs about coffee… to make you want to drink more coffee. Here are some of my favorites (click arrow to play).

Get free coffee from Dunn Bros

Sign up for their coffee eClub. All day today, members get a free cup of Congo- Kivu Select. Just to print your e-mail coupon  or flash the offer on your phone.

Give yourself a present — a cup of damn fine black coffee

(Thanks to MinnPost for this gem!)

Think outside the cup

• Learn about the history of coffee and sleepless goats.
• Use the Coffee Calorie Calculator to determine what’s been hiding in your daily latte
• Discover 15 things worth knowing about coffee through this wonderful infographic at The Oatmeal

Feel free to share your ideas in the comments!

Via Laughing Squid.

I have a love/hate relationship with Caribou Coffee. Followers of my Foursquare activity will find this surprising since I check into their locations frequently. While not my favorite corporate cup of joe, I often fall prey to the convenience of tripping over their stores throughout my day (most of their 500 locations are in Minnesota).

Don’t get me wrong, there are some things I really enjoy about the Caribou experience: the fireplaces, their Monday Happens campaign ($1 coffee on Mondays), and the company’s line of reusable knitted and fabric cup sleeves to name a few. So I was naturally quite interested when they announced their new logo and branding direction on March 1.

The world’s second-largest coffee retailer (a very distant second to Starbucks, but still impressive) is based here in the Twin Cities and stayed close to home for guidance on their new branding effort. Minneapolis ad agency Colle+McVoy is responsible for the makeover which ironically aims to make the chain feel less regional. Brandweek describes it as an attempt to “bolster its appeal as a branded coffee company by playing down the ski lodge imagery and, yes, the caribou, with a sweeping rebranding.”

The local press had mixed first impressions. The Star Tribune called the new logo “sublime” while City Pages thought it resembled one of those hidden image puzzlers found in Psychology textbooks. “Is it a vase or two lovers kissing? Is it a rose or the profile of a woman? It it a tree or an infant?” They also saw a bulbous-nosed proboscis monkey within the design, which doesn’t add much to the discussion but I just think is awesome.

My musings inspired fellow designer, @sparkyfirepants, to write an excellent post about why rebranding and a new logo won’t fix their problems. The design itself was nicely summed up by underconsideration.com, “The caribou itself is not as convincing and it’s trying too hard to carry meaning: Its body is a coffee bean! The antlers make a ‘C’! The shield is like a park sign! The angle of the jump signifies the expected revenue of 2010! Okay, I made that last one up, but in trying to do too many things with the icon, it becomes a little bit of an amorphous jumble.”

I asked folks on Twitter and Facebook for their feedback and got a range of opinions with distinct trend toward the negative.

Logos are tricky things. People get VERY attached to them and change is largely treated with skepticism. Just think back to the ruckus Pepsi caused a year ago when they changed theirs. Any brand going down this path should tread lightly. At the very least, the process should be thoughtful and clearly explained. I believe the execution of the rollout phase can tell a lot about the brand itself. Most importantly, it reveals how they really feel about their customers.

What does this move say about Caribou?

To me, it says they’re not really committed to doing this in a coordinated fashion. While the new look was unveiled March 1 on cups, napkins, cardboard sleeves and some signage, the website won’t change until April 1. Many other in-store updates reportedly won’t be complete until early 2011. I was at a Caribou on Monday and barely noticed anything different. The fancy napkins were nowhere to be found, the few new signs featured tiny new logos and the staff was lackluster when asked about the change. Worst of all, my coffee came in a cup with the old logo and a cardboard sleeve with the new one.

I realize Caribou locations are franchises and it may be difficult to coordinate something of this size easily. Wasn’t it at least worth the effort to try? When Starbucks roll out their red holiday cups each Fall, it happens at every location at at the same time. Overnight. Of course there is waste involved in replacing the current inventory of Caribou cups, but why make the cup one of the key elements of the rollout if every store doesn’t feature the new ones proudly? Especially when so few other elements even include the new logo.

Why wait a month for the website to reflect the new brand? It’s the easiest way easier to sync a central element up with the new look and certainly cheaper and faster than updating major store elements. Here’s their homepage on March 1. Less than a third of the page is devoted to the new brand. There’s simply an image without any explanation.

Clicking the image leads you to a brief page with the only explanation on the site of the new brand. There is little about the motivation behind the change or expectations of when it will be fully rolled out. They relied on news stories to fill in the gaps. There seemed to be no intention of leading the online conversation or even doing much to support it. What a missed opportunity.

Now to be fair, they did update their Twitter background and avatar. Although they didn’t answer my tweet asking why the new logo wasn’t more prominent on their website. I’m not bitter about that at all. Really.

The other thing that troubles me about the way they describe the new brand is the emphasis on a broader-based, new direction. They are essentially telling their existing customers that the woodsy-lodge feel that attracted them for the last 17 years is no longer desirable. It’s too regional now that they want to grow aggressively. They simply want new customers who are attracted to a more contemporary logo and less homey decor. It’s no surprise some long-time fans are upset. Caribou is moving on without them.

What do I think of the new brand? I thought you’d never ask.

I’ve had a few days to mull this over now and have some random thoughts on the subject. Overall I like the feel, the colors, the style of the hand-lettered typography but have trouble with the execution. There are some readability issues with certain letters in “Caribou,” the sans-serif font used for “COFFEE” is too formal for me and the light blue color is really hard to read against the brown cardboard sleeve. The horizontal version of the logo feels unbalanced (especially with the color/contrast issue on the sleeve), although I like the vertical orientation.

I love the handwritten note elements on the other branded pieces, but it feels tacked on and disconnected to the main logo.

I’m not a fan of the caribou either. It’s too simplistic and icon and a little obvious for my taste. If I want to find hidden pictures I’ll buy a copy of Highlights. They make you work for it.

There’s something about the antler that bothers me too. The way it’s sitting on his head reminds me of Max in “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.”

In any event, I’d love to hear your thoughts. What do you think?

This began with Seattle’s 15th Avenue East store which was unveiled as 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea last week. Conspicuously absent in the decor is the Starbucks logo. Even the individual coffee bags carry 15th Avenue branding. Other changes include selling beer and wine, hosting live performances and using manual espresso machines. Starbucks plans to duplicate this exercise in two other Seattle locations in the near future.

While I applaud their efforts to bring more of the local neighborhood into their stores, I can’t help but see this as exactly the sort of move that will attract criticism from the new customers they are seeking to attract. Reports of the rather obvious surveillance they performed at independent coffee shops in Seattle this past year doesn’t help matters either.

I love independent coffee shops. I seek them out them whenever possible to support their existence and take part in the unique twists they provide to the coffee experience. I also enjoy Starbucks, but for completely different reasons. The predictability of the experience is it’s appeal in this case. If I’m in a hurry or just need tolerable coffee without the frills, I know where to go.

To target audiences in both camps with the potential of a hybrid solution seems risky. Then again, early critics never thought U.S. consumers would shell out $4 for a cup of coffee either. Starbucks may still have some surprises up its apron.

I’d love to hear your opinions. Please share them in the comments.

I’ve been a fan of the work of illustrator and animator, David j. Billings (aka Sparky Firepants), for some time. Check out Java Freaks, his new line of coffee-inspired shirts and accessories.

Perfect for the coffee-lover in your life, or your favorite coffee blogger. I’m a large BTW.

The dried granules are out of the bag: Starbucks is rolling out their version of instant coffee. They claim it will “absolutely replicate the taste of Starbucks coffee.” I’m a little skeptical about that, but I do think it’s a bold move in the right direction for the company. It’s just a matter of time before the other coffee giants hop on board with their own versions.

Instant coffee caught on in the US around the time of the Great Depression. I hold it responsible for lowering the standards of a decent cup of Joe in this country for decades to come.  When Starbucks opened in 1971, it wasn’t just the price tag that was different. The coffee itself was richer and more flavorful than most Americans were accustomed to. The $17 billion instant coffee market is long overdue for some direct competition.

From a design standpoint, the little packets of Starbucks VIA™ Ready Brew Instant coffee are quite fetching. They remind me of tube-like sugar packets I’ve seen (Intelligentsia Coffee makes one). I’m anxious to try it.  They’re only offering it in select Chicago and Seattle stores so I had to order a free sample online. I’d love any reviews from folks in those cities in the comments below.

The only thing I’m not crazy about (so far) is the slogan, “Not instant… instant.”

Apparently, “Instant coffee that tastes like actual coffee” didn’t occur to them. How about Instant Karma? Instant Gratification? Call me next time, Starbucks. I’ve got a million of them.