The Lesson of New Coke
In 1985, Coca Cola decided to discontinue classic Coca Cola and replace it with "New Coke." They had done a lot of research and believed it would help them compete more effectively with Pepsi.
They were wrong.
They were very wrong. Sales plummeted, and consumers were angry.
Rather than just watch their brand get destroyed, they made the courageous decision to scrap "New Coke," and re-introduce, "Coca Cola Classic."
Everyone's takeaway was, "don't mess with a classic."
I recently had a lightbulb moment. You know, one of those times when it's as if a lightbulb suddenly goes off over your head (or at least that's what would happen if you were a cartoon character).
I was at an event, distributing marketing materials for my coaching practice, and someone said they missed my, "Ellen purple." Ever since becoming a political candidate in 2007, I've used purple as the primary color in my campaign. I also have used the same logo, with my first name in a lovely script, and my last name in block print italics (so it indicates moving forward).
Reflecting back on the weeks it took to develop the logo, I remember saying to the artist, "I'm sorry I'm being so picky, but this is going to last for a VERY long time, so we need to get it right."
That logo and use of purple are entwined in who I am, and because I was trying to reinvent myself after I was no longer a political candidate, I decided to use a different logo and color palette for my coaching practice, which you can see below:
While the new logo, colors and tag line were lovely, they just weren't me.
And (unfortunately), people responded accordingly.
Just as I coach political candidates about the importance of authenticity, I needed to be true to myself and bring my full identity to my
practice.
Accordingly, I decided to learn the lesson of "New Coke," and go back to "Ellen Classic" (although with a new tag line).
If you've never seen the Coke classic commercial from the 1970s, "Have a Coke and a smile. It makes you feel good," you can click here to enjoy it on YouTube.
I know it's feeling great for me to have my logo and a smile. As Coke said, "It's the real thing."