Trust Me: A Story about Re-Branding Orange Juice
I was looking for Tropicana orange juice at the store one day but they didn't have any so I ended up going with something else instead. The display case where it had been was filled with a store brand I hadn't seen before. I didn't like what I bought so the next time I went to the store, I went over to that display case again to get some Tropicana. Nope, still filled with some no frills store brand. So I decided to look a little closer. Usually the store brand isn't a very popular seller so not much of the display case is dedicated to it, but in this case the store brand was taking up about as much as a major brand like Tropicana used to! So I decided to look even closer. And this was the first time I saw it.
I'm a visual person. I really don't read if I think I know what it says. I've also built up a thick protective layer against advertising that almost nothing can penetrate. Its a self defense mechanism that I have built over the years to save me time. So when I'm standing in the supermarket looking at a display case full of advertising, I have to actively work to chop down that advertising veil that automatically goes up.
Low and behold, the store brand had the word "Tropicana" in a san-serif written up the right side with half of a picture of a very vanilla glass of orange juice to the left. I immediately decided I didn't want it because even if it was exactly the same orange juice, it wasn't the much more "contrast-y" old carton and would therefore only be half of the experience pulling it out of the fridge, pouring and drinking had been. Again I gave another brand a try which I liked more than the last.
Now that I was cognizant of the re-brand, I remember I went home wondering what the old brand had looked like. Whatever it was, it had much more color than what I had mistaken for a store brand. There was a picture of an orange I think. Maybe Tropicana was the one with the orange with the straw in it. I didn't remember.
The next trip to the store was far more rewarding. There it was, the old Tropicana on the shelf right next to the new impostor. I bought 3 cartons to stock up in case this was a fluke of some old stock they were just trying to get rid of.
As it turns out, I was taking part in a marketing fiasco that would result in a rare branding reversal for Tropicana. Those old Tropicana cartons I stocked up on were actually the new stock coming back in. The brand had suffered a roughly 20% drop in sales costing them around $33 million just because of schmoes like me. Merely 6 weeks after introducing the new packaging, Tropicana made the decision to revert back to the old design.
Interestingly, Tropicana dropped their old ad agency, to go with Peter Arnell for this redesign. (vindication for the last company, no doubt!) And when you listen to Arnell talk about the redesign in this video that was shot before the re-branding was pulled, you come away saying "what were they thinking?!" Arnell uses florid language to describe esoteric ideas about how squeezing an orange is akin to the love shared when squeezing someone a hug. It tees you up for the inevitable Arnell-bashing session. Seriously, its just too easy.
But I have a slightly different take. Sure, Peter Arnell missed the mark on this one, and no doubt a group of executives signed off on it as well. But I actually like the way Arnell operates. He doesn't do focus groups. He starts from a clean slate and trusts gut instinct. Granted, this method has a big blind spot in the form of the example above where it might have helped to put the packaging in a commercial refrigerator display case with a number of other brands to see how it stood out, but that is easily mitigated. I'd advocate a slight bit of consumer input as long as it is pass / fail in nature. That way you don't "design by numbers" but you don't get to thoroughly blind-sided either. As with anything, it is a delicate balancing act. But Arnell, like Apple, doesn't really care what others think. Its OK for Arnell to have a dud or two as long as you offset it with a stellar track record like he has. (Pepsi, Mtn Dew, DKNY, Sobe, M&M, etc.)
Personally, I don't like the new Tropicana design. The old orange with a straw in it was clever while the picture of a glass of juice just looks too generic. The lack of a good third contrasty color there as well is a problem. The new design is orange and white while the old one had a good contrasty and significant green. (the new version has green but it isn't a significant enough percentage of the packaging to count in my book) In the end, it doesn't stand out, but looks instead like a generic brand. I don't think people were ready to take such a radical step and I think the sales figures bore that out.
Arnell also re-engineered the cap which I think was clever but a touch that wouldn't even see the light of day if the consumer doesn't buy the product in the first place. He also produced a number of visual ads which I think work well, aside from a type contrast issue at the bottom. (Can you read all that text? I can't.) The re-branded package looks good in these ads though you can see the third dimension of the product, the whole glass of juice and hence a very different first impression. I don't know that such a generic product would have worked against a color picture for example.
I think Tropicana can salvage this re-branding rather than dumping it outright. (and some would say that they already have) While the entire thing is way to much to be taken in one shot, parts of what Arnell did are great. Fix the overall impression problem and I think you have a marked improvement. They can phase this in over time rather than re-branding the flagship product like they are doing with "Trop50". They can still fix this.
The only major re-branding mishap I can think of that comes close to this one was the one with "New Coke". And how did they get out of that? The Coca-Cola company continued to sell New Coke but also came up with the whole new "Coke Classic" brand as well. Eventually they quietly phased out New Coke and the brand was refreshed. Either way, a bit of controversy is always good, so I think Tropicana will come out stronger in the end as well.
Extra Credit from the title: Trust Me is a show on TNT about the advertising industry. Reminds me of my time on Fifth Avenue!
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To send a trackback, use the URL of this story appending ?page=tb at the end.Comments (3)
Scott B from Raleigh NC USA
"I actually like the way Arnell operates. He doesn't do focus groups. He starts from a clean slate and trusts gut instinct. "
Focus groups are worthless, but gut instinct is even worse. I tell every business owner I work with: you are the owner, not the customer. You are the last person who can decide what your customers want. There is a better way. Ask your customers. It takes almost nothing in terms of cost or resources. Ask your salesmen to forward a few long-time customers that they trust will tell you honestly if you're doing it wrong. Have someone who has user experience, er experience, to formulate the right questions and record what they say. So many CEOs think they know best, when they usually know worst. This causes them to go from strategy to strategy with no long-term focus. Had Mr. Arnell taken the time to delegate some authority to find out what his existing customers think, he would have saved $33 million while spending maybe $5,000. Penny-wise, pound-foolish.
Apple is always a bad comparison, because Steve Jobs' vision in what his customer wants is uncanny. I can think of no other founder or CEO who has nailed it better.
Anders from RTP
That's a good idea for some customers and I would say probably better than even pas / fail testing a focus group that is paid to express an opinion. However, many customers are effectively uninformed opinions. Their answers vary wildly on the whim of the moment, so I would say time spent finding your most "in tune" customers is probably your best bet. I have no clue how to do that though...
vince from no where
get a life dude
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