Tropicana Line's Sales Plunge 20% Post-Rebranding
OJ Rivals Posted Double-Digit Increases as Pure Premium Plummeted
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Tropicana's rebranding debacle did more than create a customer-relations fiasco. It hit the brand in the wallet.
A swift reversal
Now that the numbers are out, it's clear why PepsiCo's Tropicana moved as fast as it did. According to Information Resources Inc., unit sales dropped 20%, while dollar sales decreased 19%, or roughly $33 million, to $137 million between Jan. 1 and Feb. 22. Moreover, several of Tropicana's competitors appear to have benefited from the misstep, notably Minute Maid, Florida's Natural and Tree Ripe. Varieties within each of those brands posted double-digit unit sales increases during the period. Private-label products also saw an increase during the period, in keeping with broader trends in the food and beverage space.
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| Watch Peter Arnell Explain His Failed Tropicana Package Design |
The entire refrigerated-orange-juice category posted flat unit sales and a 5% decline in dollar sales during the period. As the leader in the category, it makes little sense that Tropicana Pure Premium would see such a drastic sales decline while the category remained relatively flat, industry experts said. Through Feb. 22, Tropicana Pure Premium accounted for about a third of sales in the refrigerated-orange-juice category.
Tropicana: no connection
A spokeswoman for Tropicana in an e-mail said, "No dots to connect here." The company did not respond to further requests for comment.
"It surprises me that their performance is so different from the rest of the category," said Gary Hemphill, managing director-chief operating officer at Beverage Marketing Corp. "It's a little tough to draw conclusions over such a short period of time. But I would say that's unusual."
Mr. Hemphill said typically when a beverage brand undergoes a rebranding it signals increased marketing expenditures and leads to improved performance, at least in the short term. "It gets people to look at the brand again and brings some kind of news and excitement around the brand," he added.
Tropicana had certainly sought to create excitement around the Pure Premium rebrand, announcing Jan. 8 a "historic integrated-marketing and advertising campaign ... designed to reinforce the brand and product attributes, rejuvenate the category and help consumers rediscover the health benefits they get from drinking America's iconic orange-juice brand."
'Black eye'
Beverage experts were hard pressed to think of another major brand that had pulled the plug on such a sweeping redesign as swiftly as Tropicana. "It's a black eye when you have to backtrack that quickly," said Bob Goldin, exec VP at Technomic. "There must be [another example] but nothing comes to mind. [Tropicana] is a big brand, and it was a big restage. This is something that I'm sure they were not happy about."
While it's impossible to say whether Tropicana has permanently lost share, as a result of the blunder, competitors are likely taking note. "We think the Minute Maid brand has opportunity for growth, and we're working hard to make that happen," said Ray Crockett, a Coca-Cola spokesman.
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"Tropicana had their agency do a re-design of the Tropicana packaging visual identity last year. Should we get excited about this new design? No, no we should not. Just because a design is new doesn't necessarily make it good. That is the case for Tropicana's new look. And this is why:
• The biggest problem is that the Tropicana brand name on the front of the carton is reduced in size and becomes an equal or subordinate element in the design. The "100% orange" becomes the focal point due to its heavy weight, large scale, and centered location.
• Ease of use was thrown out the window. Tropicana makes many types of OJ... pulp, no pulp, some pulp, calcium, heart healthy, etc. Therefore, they need to make sure the consumer can scan across the shelf and easily pick out their choice. "Pulp Free" is nearly hidden by being placed over a background of a similar colour orange. And moreover, why is that the only element that is capitalized in title case?? Everything else is lowercase.
• Typeface. Yes, we know sans serif typefaces are all the rage -- they're modern, clean and liked. Choosing a sans serif typeface just for the sake of having a sans serif is, however, not liked. There is no balance here; the various weights do not complement one another and, quite frankly, the bottom details look really cheap.
• Also reinforcing this meretricious look is the way the layout resembles a generic store-brand juice. The carefree way the type is thrown together underscores this problem.
• The glass of orange juice is all wrong. I do concede, the idea of using a close-up in an almost abstract way is okay. It could work. Just not here. The Tropicana brand is recognized for the iconic straw-in-orange icon. That image tells me quickly and easily that yes, this juice is damn fresh. An unimpressive glass of orange something (Tang?) is too direct and doesn't even look very quenching.
• The GOOD: the only salvageable element in this re-design is the nice touch of the leaves adjacent to the cap so as to resemble an orange. Cute."
My local King Soopers (Kroger) has Tropicana for $2.39 a 1/2 gallon. That is below Minute Maid's price.
The new design was a total cock-up. As someone who always appreciated the fact that Tropicana always tasted better than its competition and that it created this entire category of juices, I just expect Tropicana to be higher priced.
This low price is shocking to me. But, Pepsico deserves it.
Perhaps, however, Mr. Arnell's business will suffer from the consequences of his disengagement from reality, in which case the pain should be helpful to future endeavors.
All of these companies are trying to use the white background with pretty designs and are forgetting the primordial concept of branding. If you have a relation with a customer--especially a good one--let others seek new avenues and capitalize on your own.
I do not like Tropicana which is maybe why I am not too sad too see this, but I think that this will serve as a great lesson for businesses. BE CREATIVE your own way!
Here's what I would have done. I am by no means an expert, just a lowly NYC graphic designer, but I would have simply kept the iconic orange & straw, and made everything look, simple, fresh, and clean. "K.I.S.S." PepsiCo!
Have a look at BootB (Brands out of the Box)and you will understand how things can be done better, faster, cheaper with 24,000 hands from 121 countries around the whole planet!
Mrs. Nooyi, Pepsi's chief strategist for the last 10+ years ain't running your grandma's brands-staple any more. For 100+ years they changed the logo 4 times. You know what she's ushered-in for the Pepsi brand in the last year.
Gatorade – ditto
Tropicana – ditto
Frito-Lay – I can only imagine what they're gonna do with it
Quaker — apparently "A symbol of great taste, nutrition, and quality for over a century" is now delivered in the form a 'Rocketeer' jet-pack strapped to the back of a Wall Street wannabe [Goodby, Silverstein & Parterns, SF - "Go humans go" campaign]
I first heard about Arnell's design being panned/pulled about a week after I saw the first media – a billboard on I-95, SoFla's main N-S artery (two blond girls smiling – LOTS of white space and the glass of OJ as the point-of-reference). My immediate reaction to the billboard was as a consumer: 'Huh? Where's the straw?' Then, as an ad guy: 'WT# are they thinking?'
Of course, the juice in my fridge was still the same old T packaging, as were the items on the shelves [Publix, Albertsons & Winn Dixie if late January/early February market research memory serves me]. I don't know much about fresh grocery delivery logistics but my gut told me the 'sales' guys knew a thing or two about the campaign's popularity/future and were doing what they could to save their quarter.
You gotta give Pepsi 'style' points for making the attempt [and don't trust the French judge's score] -- clearly a little more market research would [should] be in order.
Publix's signature stark-image-on-white-background packaging is indeed fresh and clean, but it also conveys a quick message to the consumer: "store brand. value priced." Tropicana wants to convey neither, so it baffles me why they would choose a design that so closely mimics the look and feel of private label. And I agree, that glass of OJ looks less-than-appealing. The color is wan and sallow and makes me think of the "juice" that used to result when my mother mixed one of those frozen tubes of concentrate with a gallon of water on Saturday mornings. Consumers don't want to see the juice. Show us the orange. (and if there's a straw in it -- even juicier)
I saw this packaging in my local grocer last week while on my weekly trip to the store. The color was washed out, the type was hard to read, and overall... to put it nicely... it looked terrible when placed next to the other juices on the shelf. Tropicana, like the old saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." The straw in the orange is an iconic image. Why on Earth would you drop that imagery for a generic image of a glass full of orange... something? I agree with someone who posted earlier, why didn't they do a small market research before rolling this out nationwide? Where was the planning and research behind a roll-out of this size? Even the smallest amount of research would have shown that this wouldn't go over well with consumers.
Everyone internally knew the design was terrible, except for the people at the top who forced it through the system. Arnell had never designed packaging before so I don't think anyone was all that surprised at the outcome....just scratching their heads about how Arnell got the job in the first place.
Brand Mngr: We need to give Tropicana more oomph (Trop 50)...
Associate Brand Mngr: I'll get right on it.
2 weeks later...
Associate Brand Mngr: Here is a list of the top creative firms. They have done work for (list of rivals)
Brand Mngr: Great, let's arrange to meet and discuss this further
Associate Brand Mngr: No problem, I'll get right on it.
After rounds of meetings...creative firm chosen...
Creative Dir: So we have given this much though and what we saw was a fresh product... from the orange to the box, so why not make the box the orange...
Brand Mngr: Genius, let's do it....
Aftermath... we missed the mark
Why? You forgot to account for a critical detail: the target, the mother or child who runs to their grocers' freezers and grabs the box with the orange and the straw stuck in it that they have connected with, possibly on many levels.
I don't think they were accounted for in re-branding Tropicana and as co-owner of the brand this was a huge mistake. Branding 101 always account for the core audience when extending the brand.
HISTORY LESSON: Black & Decker failed to account for its core audience when it extended their brand beyond power tools to coffee makers; sales declined... hence the birth of DeWalt which regained market position for Black and Decker and the connection with the core audience of its power tools.
So, What Now: do we revert to the old packaging and act as if it never happened, or do we use this mishap as the grounds for a new campaign that give Tropicana back to the people... There is huge opportunity here to revive the brand and all it requires in some true creative zeal with a holistic focus and not merely the possibility of an award or mega press!
Check the history of Tropicana and its founder, the story of how the company was born...It is a classic don't ruin that to be the latest trend.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THE REDESIGN. It's incredibly clever. Smart. Thoughtful. Different. I get the engaging message proposition.
I applaud the team for having the 'umph' to stand out in a rather dull category. Instead of slamming, I'll give the team much-much praise.
The problem with the new design is immediately apparent when one encounters the packaging in a real-life situation. At about 11:00, on the evening of February 26th, while returning home from dinner at Wu Liang Ye, my wife noticed at the entrance of a Duane Reade on 6th Avenue, a Tropicana poster—a handsome African-American man giving his child a "squeeze." We decided to see the re-packaging for ourselves and found it in the back of the store, where the Tropicana juice line shared a single shelf in a refrigerator case.
At a glance it was impossible to tell the orange from the apple juice. Yes, if the two cartons been set on a table and I was given a full minute to study the containers, the differences would have been discernible.
Saying this—out of the focus group and into the case—a real shopper stopping in the store for five minutes, checking off items on his or her mental list, isn't particularly discerning, but is likely to simply grab and run and not learn until he or she sorts through his or her purchases whether they picked the 100% orange juice they desired or the 100% apple, a juice they detest.
That Arnell sold this design to Pepsi is not a testament to his legendary gifts as a salesman but to his clients' ignorance of or indifference to how people perceive and act, in a word, live, in the real world.
Arenell, the aesthete, simply wants to create lovely objects and interesting experiences. When he succeeds, he succeeds beautifully. When he fails, it is usually because the client, bamboozled or seduced, is always the one caught with his or her pants down.
Sharonh
If it ain't broke, DONT FIX IT!
If it ain't broke, DONT FIX IT!"
this expression is so overused...
you realize just because something works doesn't mean that its efficiency can't be improved?
i don't understand why they don't do these things in a small test market. just change the packaging in one city, say columbus?!
This Tropicana redesign is more feminine and, dare I say, weaker, and I feel similarly about Pepsi's redesign of their logo.
Cleaner, yes. But not as bold, not as strong, and not the look I attribute to a company with such a great history that makes promises about the future I feel comfortable believing in.
aimee.perry@gmail.com
The lack of creativity is apparent when you see Arnell Group's office. Designers work in a sterile, non-creative atmosphere. Everything is white. Designers sit in rows of identical workstations. No individuality is allowed. Even the phones are velcroed in place.
I can't believe the execs that bought his hype didn't look at the new design in a line-up of competing products. Two minutes at the orange juice display at Walmart should have been all they needed to see that the designs were third rate hackery.
Why?
I couldn't find what I buy EVERY week and I am super brand loyal. Anyhoo that's my 2cents. Time to wait for Pepsi stock to drop and buy low. Once they bring back the lovely ol container they will get market share back. It is the best tasting juice around. Tropicana has the sweetest tasting freshest non bitter flavor ... I am gushing here....I don't ever want to have a shock like I had when I didn't see it on the shelf and thought my shipment had not come in. I LOVE U TROP!!! Don't ever change...again...
I drink Tropicana every day. It wasn't until I drank the third glass that the watery consistency and "odd flavor" hit me and I asked my wife (who does most of the shopping for us) about this new smaller packaging (narrower, fewer ounces, different look) style of OJ. It took both of us carefully reading the packaging to "discover" that the lower sugar content had been replaced with an artificial sweetener.
The only way I can stand to drink it is by mixing it with the "real stuff," which I have done.
Changing the packaging and logo is one thing (and it clearly hurt sales): but messing with the formula, changing the "never from concentrate" image of the top of the line product, changing the taste and health benefits... I thought we all learned those lessons from New Coke and other products that messed with success.
Are people so taken with themselves, so cocky, so self-riteous that they feel that they can improve the world on a whim?
At least in my family we can go back to the regular Tropicana (I prefer mine without pulp) no matter what the branding is: but for those who hated this new version and didn't realize that it was simply a marketing mistake, are those customers lost forever?
Charles Seymour Jr
http://UltimateWorkAtHomeDads.com
The next shoe will be the new logo design and ad campaign for Pepsi...
I don't agree with the "if it ain't broke..." philosophy. Even iconic brands need refreshing to avoid gradual irrelevance. The art is identifying and enhancing the core, not walking away from it.
Jonathan Goldfuss
President, Red Bird Marketing
@RedBirdMkt
• I have a hard time believing that even a small amt of market research would not have put a stop to this re-branding.
• I had to search a little harder to find Tropicana, which is never good and even had conversations with both my brother and another shopper in the store about how poor the new packaging was.
• It simply appears to be generic or private label. Amazing that repackaging can actually strip you of your brand equity so easily.
• I don't believe in "If it ain't broke don't fix it", but I do believe in market research.
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