Caffeine Siren.

I expect Homer never anticipated the longevity of his body of a bird, head of a human sea-nymphs becoming the backbone image of the most globally recognised coffee house.

Winning the power-struggle, the nymph has out sexed the writing & we're left with this ...

Well slap my knee & send over the Pike Place Roast (grande, ta). Out with the old, in with the tweaked old, Starbuks has unveiled a new logo. No words. Just an image. The smiling siren.

Sparking debates as to the reason; the top contender is that the (simple) words have been scrapped due to expansion into East Asia &their nations low English-speaking. Strange how McDonalds, Santander and Tesco managed to overcome this obstacle.

Still, the strongest debate lies in Starbuks self-importance. Sure they may have come 89th in 2009's Most Valuable Global Brands list, but does that give them the right to make like a usual approaching-40 year old? Have a mid-life crisis &change their image, despite looking pretty much the same?

I'm not actually a coffee drinker (coffee cake is quite the contrary), but re-branding fascinates me. Olivier Blanchard's shares his witty view on his blog, Brand Builder. I couldn't explain it better myself.

Got me thinking, do you need words to convey a brand? Can the word be the brand image?

Chanel. It'd look tacky with 'Chanel' written underneath the famously crosssed C's no? Yet they also use the bold 'CHANEL' in their advertising. Less is more.

Hermes. With another distinguished logo, they rarely use the image of the horse drawn carriage.

Bobbi Brown. No frills there.

Christian Louboutin. Calligraphy&a splash of rouge is all it takes.

Amazon. Simple. Effective.

The list goes on; brands who use their name within their logo. Successful brands. Globally recognised brands.

My own logo. SuperBad. I've chosen to use the name, overlapping the logo; as my brand identity.

Will Starbuks lose their identity? I doubt it. Will Starbuks lose integrity? I'd bet my bottom dollar on it.

With odd statements as to why only the siren remains, a senior Starbuks writer noted that the siren is "always there, inspiring us and pushing us ahead. Sirens are from Greek mythology and were believed to use their enchanting voices to lure nearby sailors to shipwreck on their island'. I'll remember that when being washed up ashore in rainy Manchester en route to work.

One word; Gap.