Political Pop

This presidential race will be over on November 4, but an independent soda bottling company has some early returns. Avery Soda’s Rob Mertz was looking for a way for his brand to participate in the political process, the company is tracking sales of its Barack O'Berry (blue raspberry soda) and John McCream (a red cream soda), to gauge the popularity between the two candidates.

"We were counting on a heavy turnout from customers," Metz said. Each sale counts as one vote for the candidate. They will be sold for $1 each with half of the proceeds benefiting the League of Women Voters of Connecticut's education fund. Anyone who purchases a case of soda gains Super Delegate status and becomes eligible for prize drawings.

Your choice may depend on your political leanings in the November election. Although Barack O’Berry holds a slight lead, the real winner is Avery Soda for thinking outside the partisan box and creating a little buzz for its 100 year old company.

Pepsi Makeover

Over one hundred years ago a pharmacist Caleb Bradham, hired his neighbor to design the new logo for his pepsin and cola nut carbonated drink. What resulted was Pepsi, which would become one of the biggest marketing brands of all time.

Pepsi recently announced a $1.2 million dollar, 3 year rebrand effort. Looking to become a brand for the future, Chairman-CEO Indra Nooyi says they will explore how they look, how they're packaged, how they will be merchandised on the shelves, and how they connect with consumers.

The Pepsi logo mark has been made over many times since 1898. In 1941 they changed the their colors to red, white and blue to be more patriotic. Later adding a bottle cap element, and many more small evolutions until the most recent three dimensional globe. New York-based Arnell Group is the latest to create a Pepsi brand mark. The new logo’s concept will now loosely form a series of smiles on the various product offerings and the new type will have a more casual all lower-case treatment, with the 'e' mimicking the white curve of the classic logo.

Is a change of this magnitude a risk? What do they have to gain/lose? Creating a logo that can appeal to customers is important, a logo makeover can infuse your company with new excitement. The world, the market, and your customer base are constantly changing, if you can change with them you stand to remain contemporary and forward thinking. Although the economy is in the tank and people are more careful than ever about their purchases, treating yourself to an ice cold Pepsi on a hot day, may just put a smile on your face.