239. A NEW CORPORATE LOGO FOR SAN MIGUEL CORPORATION, 1975

SMC CORPORATE PRINT AD launching the new logo, 1975

The giant multinational business conglomerate of the Philippines—SAN MIGUEL CORPORATION—had its beginning in 1889, when prominent Manila businessman, Enrique María Barretto, applied for a royal grant from Spain to establish a brewery in the Philippines that would be known as La Fábrica de Cerveza San Miguel.

In the next century, its San Miguel Beer would be its most famous product, here and all over the world. Its product portfolio would include food, beverage, packaging,  real estate, among others, but San Miguel Beer would always be top-of-mind among its loyal consumers.

The early San Miguel Beer bottles were branded with the letters S over M. The more well-known San Miguel escudo (seal), symbol of the royal grant, was incorporated in the design of the product label, and became a sort of a corporate logo for many years.

 

It was only in 1975 that SAN MIGUEL CORPORATION adopted a new corporate identity logo, as it acknowledged that the “escudo” was strongly associated with their beer product, which has since changed with their diversified ventures.

For this diversity, SMC created a new symbol, keeping the “escudo” for its brewery products. The new symbol symbolized th primal element of  Water, Life, Growth, Food, Abundance and Progress.

A TV commercial used animation to explain the basic concept behind the new corporate logo. This logo was in use until 1999, when SMC reverted back to the use of its “escudo” to stand for the company and its products. In 2012, the “escudo” design was further streamlined, a version that is still in current use. 

SOURCES:

San Miguel Corporation, wikipedia

San Miguel Logo: logopedia.com