Pepsi, Fanta Consider Digital Space in Spate of Soda Facelifts

“As a brand that interacts with millions of people every day around the world, updating a visual identity is a large-scale endeavor that takes time. That said, we’re very excited about how the new design will show up in the world. The bold, clean, and iconic visual identity will help improve shelf navigation and brand recall, turning transactions into brand-building moments,” Porcini says. “As always, we have a sharp focus on consistently putting our best designs in the market and ensuring we don’t dilute our brand impact or visual distinction. We’re strategically working with our local markets on rollout timing so that we are continuing to build on our brand equity and properly establish familiarity. We are very confident that this redesign will continue to positively propel our brand into the future.”

A key update is the addition of black to the color palette. This is a color-coded reference to Pepsi Zero Sugar, a huge area of focus and a growth driver. It also creates a striking contrast with the new electric blue. The visual identity also incorporates what it calls a “pulse.” Best represented digitally as a moving, .gif-style format, this effect adds a living, breathing design asset that allows Pepsi to flex and customize its look to any setting, platform, or partnership to reach customers in new ways. So far, the rollout and feedback has been all positive.

“Prior to the announcement, we conducted research globally and received a positive response. Specifically, people applauded the attractive color palette, distinctiveness, and overall modern look,” Porcini says. “And now we’ve been thrilled to see how the news has resonated with Pepsi fans around the globe—and even trended on Twitter.”

Fanta unifies design, clarifies flavors

In April, Coca-Cola brand Fanta announced its first ever global brand identity. Designers say the concept encourages playfulness, with bright, bold designs that punch through the routine of everyday life.

“We wanted to portray a brand that values spontaneous play and the benefit it brings. By shifting our focus to reflect an attitude, we were able to revitalize Fanta’s brand assets and reclaim ‘play’ as something that people of all ages can embrace and benefit from,” says Rapha Abreu, global vice president of design at The Coca-Cola Company.

Both virtually (digital spaces) and in real life (on the packaging and other physical spaces), the new, more cohesive visual identity emphasizes fun. The brand color system is comprised of unique, identifiable colors that correspond with specific flavors, like raspberry or cherry. The graphic system, inspired by the new dynamic logo that incorporates .gif-style motion in digital spaces, helps Fanta reinforce playfulness. Created in partnership with Brazilian illustrator Lucas Wakamatsu, illustrations and photography serve to bring a “Pop of Fun-ta” to life by emphasizing the aesthetic of mixed media, layering, imperfection, and storytelling, to create a distinctive point-of-view intended to cut through visual clutter.

“We were really inspired by the idea of bringing playfulness to consumers of all ages when we started to ideate around how to bring the brand’s purpose to the masses. By thinking what this meant for the brand’s expression, attitude, and actions, we were able to build a distinctive brand identity that signaled Fanta’s commitment to fun at every level—from real life to digital,” says Lisa Smith, executive creative director Global, Jones Knowles Ritchie, brand identity and packaging agency who collaborated with Fanta on the project. The legacy logo contained a depiction of an orange, and this appeared even on other flavors like grape and strawberry. By removing the orange, each flavor now carries its own respective juicy, cartoonish fruit signifiers.

Previously, Fanta’s brand identity and packaging system existed in different executions across markets. Now, the Fanta brand will begin to be unified around the world, raising it to sit consistently alongside other iconic brands by The Coca-Cola Company, such as Coca-Cola and Sprite.

One consideration for the brand was its logo, which until this redesign had incorporated an orange as text background, with a stem and a leaf draped across the typography. While this orange-laden logo was Fanta’s only logo, orange wasn’t Fanta’s only flavor. A logo depicting an orange had the potential to confuse consumers selecting other flavors, like pineapple or lime. The new logo retains the brand equity in look and feel but eschews the direct connection to an orange. Each flavor—orange included—uses fun, juicy, cartoonish depictions of the fruit associated with it.

The brand redesign was led by the Coca-Cola Global Design and Jones Knowles Ritchie, with contributions from Relative in packaging guidelines and imagery, Gretel in digital motion identity, and Colophon in typography, among others.