Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Starbucks unveils logo change

Logo drops words as firm grows overseas

CBC News

The world's biggest coffee retailer, Starbucks Corp., said Wednesday it is giving its logo a facelift.
Starbucks unveiled a new logo that drops the words encircling the iconic sea nymph at its centre.
This image provided by Starbucks shows the company's new 40-year anniversary logo, far right, and cups with logos dating back to, from far left, 1971, 1987 and 1992, respectively.
The new wordless logo, the company said, was better suited to its expansion into more international markets.This is the fourth version of the logo since the company's beginnings as a small coffee, tea and spice shop in Seattle in 1971.The first update came in 1987, taking the original bare-breasted siren in brown to a more stylized — and modest — version in green as the company began to expand.The mermaid in the logo alludes to the seafaring tradition so central to the book that inspired the company's name: Moby Dick. (Starbuck was the name of the first mate on the Pequod, the ship at the centre of Herman Melville's famous novel.)Her image was further refined in the 1990s as the company went public and its growth soared.Those prior versions of the logo helped build Starbucks into one of the world's best-recognized brands, and the company now feels it no longer needs to reinforce its name at every turn.

Financials recovering from hit

The change comes as the company makes its way back from the toughest financial times in its history.As the recession hit, consumers drank coffee at home or went to lower-priced competitors like McDonald's Corp., which had upped its coffee offerings.The coffee's giant's sales and stock price both fell. Starbucks has since ramped up its plans for international markets, like China, where it now has 400 stores on the mainland and plans to open hundreds more in coming years."We're sitting today with record revenue, record profit; the stock price is at a five-year high. This isn't an accident," CEO Howard Schultz said.

Starbucks plans to bring the logo to stores in March to coincide with its 40th anniversary.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2011/01/05/starbucks-logo-change.html#ixzz1AC5dbAR9

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