Starbucks, and some thoughts on Branding.

Starbucks, despite its spectacular failure in Melbourne Australia is still a really strong brand and a fascinating one to watch.

They have now made the decision to join other megabrands Nike, Shell, McDonalds and Apple by removing all text from their logo.





Bad:

Personally, I think this is a bad move. Sure, they want to use their brand to enter into non-coffee products, but they still need the brand name on there. The reason is simple: there are literally millions of people that are not Starbucks enthusiasts. Yes, this company is huge, but one of the reasons their brand name is so well known is because it is placed next to the logo that is on so many coffee cups being carried by angry, hurried business types every single workday morning. If you want your brand spoken about by people who don't necessarily use the product (but you hope they will) you need text included.



Good:

I thought I would take the opportunity to commend Starbucks on their choice of logo. The two-tailed weird green mermaid is brilliant. Personally, I don't know WHY they chose that mermaid, or why she has two tails, or even what her name is, but I love that it is DIFFERENT! Compare to the other major coffee chains: Gloria Jeans and Hudsons, and what do you notice?



They've both got dark brown as their colouring. Boring, ho-hum, predictable, and because I'm not super-dedicated to any brand I get them all mixed up. Even The Coffee Club is too conservative with its black background and serious white font.

There are some smaller chains that are starting to differentiate a little. While in Perth recently I was told the most popular coffee in town was from a place called Muzz Buzz. (http://www.muzzbuzz.com.au/) Even better they offer it as Drive through! The brand doesn't appeal to me personally, I'm a Melbournite that has a local café that enjoys my entire share of wallet when it comes to coffee. But I like what Muzz Buzz is doing. They're starting to grow – 3 sites open in Melbourne, and well away from the snooty inner-city crowd (I guess I can include myself there).

Notice how Muzz Buzz has the word COFFEE in their logo which is exactly what you need to do when you are starting up. (unlike Google, which doesn't need SEARCH ENGINE, Holden doesn't need CAR, Hewlett Packard doesn't need PRINTERS and Gilette doesn't need RAZOR). Once your brand is well and truly established, which is a difficult thing to measure, you are free to remove the name of the product - just make sure you keep the name of your brand highly visible!