The refresh is certainly bolder and more contemporary than their previous can, which was looking very dated (and not in a cool retro way). The question is whether consumers will resonate with the changes in a way that will result in market share gains. In the past, major redesigns of beverage packaging have been hit and miss. Some are wildly successful, others have no effect at all, and a few actually damage the brand. One famous example of a rebrand that went wrong in this product category is Tropicana. The popular orange juice was totally overhauled in January 2009 only to have PepsiCo (its parent company) revert back to the old packaging within just two months, due to disastrous customer feedback. The problem with the short-lived packaging was that it seemed to throw away all of Tropicana’s brand equity with a bland design you’d expect to see from a generic bargain brand. Consumers could no longer differentiate Tropicana from other orange juices – the exact opposite of what a rebrand should accomplish.

While it’s safe to say Budweiser’s refreshed packaging is in no way a clear disaster along the lines of Tropicana, it will be interesting to see if it affects sales in the next few months.

Earth to Sherman Williams:  It’s not 1982 anymore.

In a time when American’s concern for the environment and world conflict is greater than ever, Sherman Williams continues to display an outdated, outrageous logo that seems to say, “Sherman Williams: Covering the earth, one toxic paint can at a time.” Or for you folks who like to read between the lines, “Sherman Williams: With endless blood, we will conquer the earth”.

According to Sherman Williams, it’s “one of the most recognized logos in the world”.   Even if that was true (and it’s not), being recognized is not necessarily good for your brand. It’s obvious that it’s not politically correct (or even common sense) to drip toxic paint over a globe, so I’ll skip the commentary on this part.

Perhaps a more interesting topic is the cryptic “SWP” acronym pictured on the pouring can. For the smart ones in the room, you probably knew right away that it stands for Sherman Williams Paint (I had to look it up).  I was thinking more along the lines of: Super World Power or Scarlet Wicked Poison.

Ironically, they credit much of their success to former CEO, Jack Breen.  Breen ran the company for 20 years from 1979-1999.  In 1982 he decided to bring back the infamous logo after it had gone away for several years.  Below is a funny little snippet from their very own corporate history timeline.  Hey, when you’ve got a good thing going…stick with it.

UPDATE: Wait, they are environmentally friendly after all.  They recently posted their first Corporate Social Responsibility or “CSR” report (because you have to give it an acronym in business).  In the title shown below, you gotta love the juxtaposition of the fresh green grass and soft pastel title, with a blood-red dripping earth.  Now I’m really confused.

One of our intern’s favorite new information sources is, you guessed it, a twitter feed, that has been linked to some of the most knowledgeable, interesting, and successful people around. Smashing Magazine has been one of those reliable pals that unknowingly has made lots of Album employees thrilled to be in this industry, over and over again. They have posted the Album site as an example for different educational categories, such as the Speaking Navigation category in the Design Trends for 2009 article.

Now, this is a big deal for us. We put our blood, sweat, and tears into our work, and what kind of an example would we be for potential clients if our own site wasn’t worthy of praise?

Well, apparently it is. So much so that when Smashing Magazine published The Smashing Book, they included us in it. That’s right! Here we are on page 170:

This is in the “The Ultimate Guide to Fantastic Color Usage in Web Design, Usability, and Experience” section.

All we can say is: Go Team!

Fun Fact: As you may have noticed, the article mentioned earlier was called “Design Trends for 2009.” The site was launched in 2008. What does this mean? We are ahead of our time when it comes to what’s cool, what’s hot, what works, and what just looks good.

Don’t mind us if we toot our own horn every once in a while.

The most noticeable difference in the new logo is the oval shape, which was tilted to create a more dynamic arrangement.  Subtle changes to every character in the font have resulted in a more rounded, friendlier and soothing feel, with the biggest changes coming to the “z” and the “e”.

The new color palette is bold and fluorescent and contains a lot of visual energy.

Pfizer’s new identity also carries a strong circular theme, as evidenced in their new home page pictured above.  Overall, this is the right move for a global brand that has produced two of the most popular drugs in the world: Lipitor and Viagra.  The change positions them as a more progressive and lively brand that is helping to change lives for the better.  I applaud them on this strategic step and believe it’s a boost to their brand resonance.