Marine Flatrès
1st Assignement: article analysis

STARBUCKS CHANGES LOGO

The coffee chain will launch a new logo in the on March 2011. The change is not so radical but quite surprising: logo keeps the siren, abandons the black color that was present and keeps only the traditional green. What is surprising is that there will not be anymore the brand name on the logo: “Starbucks coffee”. Regular consumers are not satisfied with this new logo identity because they do not recognize their favourite coffee brand. The nameless logo makes the products become a generic product, it does not claim, does not identify the product as a Starbucks product.

Is this change an opportunity or a threat for the company?

1°) The risks that Starbucks faces

* What does a logo represent for a brand:
A logo is used primarily to identify the brand, but it also has several critical functions, including competitive differentiation, it effectively assigns the type of offered product or service and symbolically connects consumers’ values and personality.

* A brutal change in the logo: a loss of identity
- This break seems to betray the traditional image of the brand, which has been introduced since the last logo was created in 1992. Starbucks logo is a fundamental element of the brand image.
- In addition, the name of the Starbucks brand coffee disappears: The logo will be refined. The abstraction and the suppression of the name of the logo challenge the power of visual identification of the brand.
A less strong branding may be the result of this change. However, there are many brands that no longer need to display their brand name to be recognized. We can refer to the Apple bitten apple and the Nike comma.

* A negative impact on consumers:

- Consumers’ habits are upset: Consumers do not like brutal changes. Consumers are used to buy one product, which matches with their specific expectations. They are afraid of loosing their landmarks and do not