Pantone 484 is known as Coke red and protected. For a special edition of nail varnish OPI was granted the right to use this tone. Photo: OPI

One Family – One Brand - Coca-Cola reduces variation in brand design

When diversity becomes consistency. „“We need a bottle that everyone recognises even when only touching it in the dark,” was the brief given back then to the Roots Glass Company in Indiana to design the first Coca-Cola bottle from glass. The recognition value has remained high until this very day. This may also be due to the striking red tone that Coca-Cola selected as a brand symbol in combination with the curved logotype for the fizzy drink. There have been numerous different editions launched since, at times made of aluminium, at others featuring a special print, or as a sleeve bottle coated with a sheer glass layer to protect collages of historical motifs.

The classic Coke red and the red disk are the principal features of Coca Cola’s new brand appearance “One Brand”. Photo: The Coca-Cola Company

Early 2016 saw the global player announce a new brand strategy. In future the design of Coke bottles and cans will be dominated by the classic Coke red and the iconic “Red Disc” button. The colours silver, black and green for the sub-brands Coca-Cola Light, Coca-Cola Zero and Coca-Cola Life will stay but will have to move to the background.

Coca-Cola filed a patent on the famous curved bottle in 1915. One year later it was commercialised for the first time. Photo: Coca-Cola Germany

With this change in strategy the brand value of the principal brand is to be strengthened. The global roll-out of the new packaging design is hoped to be completed by 2017. In May the beverage giant will start launching the brand’s new look in Mexico.

Mit dem Slogan “Taste the Feeling” startete die neue Marketingkampagne mit neuem Design als erstes im mexikanischen Markt. Foto: The Coca-Cola Company

Explaining the new strategy CMO Marcos de Quintos said: “Packaging is our most visible and valuable strength. With the new design we are taking the next step towards the complete adoption of our “One-Brand Strategy”, which will bring together the whole Coca-Cola family under the umbrella of one Visual Identity.”

Georgia Green is the name of the slightly greenish tone of the icon bottle, paying tribute to the birthplace of Coca-Cola in the US state Georgia. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the soda producer OPI has produced a limited edition of its nail varnish in the same colour. Photo: OPI