PEPSICO: Quietly, a corporate upgrade

New: The globe and wordmark

Launched:
First used without comment August 2, 2001, on Quaker merger messages, and more boldly in the 2001 annual report (April, 2002).

Story in brief:
For years, Pepsico managers talked among themselves about their dated, weak and ugly corporate logo. But no one acted until a new broom, Steve Reinemund, saw the Quaker acquisition as an opportunity to signal quietly a "new Pepsico." The Landor assignment: modernize, but no radical change.

Credits:
C.E.O. - Steven S. Reinemund
Identity design - Landor Associates

First Impressions:
Task accomplished. The new mark is appropriately simple and elegant; who needs originality? The globe provides a flexible decorative device and its colors reference the brands and support "diversity" (like Altria's 'mosaic,' but with less effort).

Instead of treating it as a non-event, subject to criticism as 'image manipulation,' Reinemund can be proud of this action. Employees and shareholders alike can be thankful.