SABMiller plc was a multinational brewing and beverage company headquartered in London, England, formed in 2002 when South African Breweries acquired Miller Brewing from Philip Morris for $5.6 billion. The combined company took the name SABMiller, and its corporate logo was introduced that same year. In 2016, SABMiller was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev, and the SABMiller identity was retired.
Design and History
The SABMiller logo, introduced in 2002, featured an ocher oval ring with the company name set inside. The “SAB” portion of the wordmark was larger and positioned above “Miller,” with both parts matched to the same width. The lettering used a moderately bold, slightly serif style. The oval ring and wordmark shared the same ocher color, a warm golden-brown tone. [1]
The color of the SABMiller logo has been identified as Old Brass, with a hex value of #A68F64. [2] Some SABMiller subsidiaries and regional operations used variations of the identity. For example, SABMiller Russia developed a version with blue lettering, sometimes rendered in Cyrillic, with a taller ring around the wordmark. [1]
In July 2004, South African Breweries Ltd, the South African operation of SABMiller, unveiled a new corporate identity for its domestic market. The new logo replaced the company’s old beer tankard design from the early 1980s with a modern semi-circular design. The redesign was part of a broader campaign to re-establish SAB’s South African roots and reinforce its commitment to the country. The identity embedded the words “The South African Breweries” into the design to emphasize the company’s South African personality. The new identity was rolled out across SAB’s 70 installations, including seven breweries and nearly 500 vehicles. [3] [4]
Following the acquisition of SABMiller by Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2016, the combined company retained the AB InBev name, and the SABMiller brand identity was discontinued. [5]
Meaning and Symbolism
For the 2004 South African identity redesign, SAB Ltd managing director Tony van Kralingen explained that the corporate brand served as “the umbrella of values” under which the company’s product brands interacted with the South African public. The redesign was driven by research showing that stakeholders had growing uncertainty about the company’s roots and nationality following its global expansion. The new identity was intended to reinforce the company’s South African identity and acknowledge the role of South Africans in its global success. [4]
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