Coca-Cola Makes Design Change

Related tags Coca-cola

Coca-Cola is abandoning the "splash graphic" design it
introduced two years ago and returning to the familiar Coke ribbons
for a look on cans and bottles that is traditional but updated, the
company has announced.

Coca-Cola is abandoning the "splash graphic" design it introduced two years ago and returning to the familiar Coke ribbons for a look on cans and bottles that is traditional but updated, the company has announced.

The intertwined white and yellow ribbons run underneath the familiar "Coca-Cola" script, with a trail of bubbles in the background. The new packaging will appear on products in 2003.

"It's a significant change because it cleans up substantially the look of the cans and of the labels,"​ said John Sicher, editor of Beverage Digest, an industry publication.

The brand will retain familiar elements of the Coca-Cola brand name including the typeface, the red colour and a new presentation of the contour bottle. In the United States, the word "classic" will continue to appear on all packaging for brand Coca-Cola.

The current design for cans and labels show the neck of a contour bottle, with the bottle cap popped off and soda fizzing out. In the US and other English language markets, the bottle cap display line reads: "Enjoy Coca-Cola Classic."

"The design was not as clean as it could have been and didn't let the eye see the Coke name and trademark as clearly,"​ Sicher said.

The design change is meant to update Coke's look and draw renewed attention to a brand whose international sales have fizzled in the last couple of years.

Coke grew globally during most of the 1990s, but last year Coke's volume dropped on a worldwide basis. However, for the first six months of 2002, the brand was up about 2 per cent worldwide.

"I wouldn't consider this reactive,"​ said Kelly Brooks, a spokesman for Coke. "Other initiatives are ongoing and will be considered but we are not going to put a timeline on it."

When the design changes are completed, Coke will have a unified look for its three brother brands - Coke Classic, Vanilla Coke and Cherry Coke - which got a new design earlier this year.

"I think companies like Coke change graphics on the big brands relatively infrequently but this was needed for this brand and is a big improvement,"​ Sicher said.

Earlier this year, Pepsi introduced a new version of its Diet Pepsi can, in light blue.

Related topics Processing & Packaging

Related news

Show more

Follow us

Products

View more

Webinars