Starbucks Brand Evolution: 40th Anniversary

Mission: Inspire and nurture the human spirit—one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.
Global Presence: World's largest specialty coffee roaster and retailer; operates in more than $24,000$ locations across over $70$ countries with over $190,000$ employees; founded in $1971$ .

Used the $40$ th anniversary as an opportunity to clarify future vision and refresh customer experience.
Goals:
- Celebrate the $40$ th anniversary.
- Envision a future broader than coffee.
- Refresh customer experience.
- Revitalize visual expression.
- Implement new global strategy.

Assessment (Early 2010): Starbucks Global Creative Studio conducted a comprehensive brand, marketing, and strategy assessment.
Strategic Need: The brand required flexibility to explore product innovation, become globally/regionally relevant, and develop an evolved customer experience.
Key Design Change: Decided to free the Siren from the logo (removing the "Starbucks Coffee" text) to enable a more personal customer connection with the brand.
Collaboration: Engaged Lippincott to refine brand elements, provide cross-cultural perspective, and build consensus within the global corporation.
Creative Solution: Developed a visual identity system reflecting both past and future; simplified Siren symbol with a vibrant green to signal a bright future.

New brand identity launched on Tuesday, March $8$ , $2011$ , with a rollout to $16,500$ stores worldwide.
The evolution provided Starbucks with freedom and flexibility to explore innovations and new distribution channels.
The Siren now represents not only the brand's heritage but also its future.