Peter Arnell Explains Failed Tropicana Package Design

This nitwit is a CEO? Hokey smokes, what world do these guys inhabit?

My first reaction to the package design change was why? If it "ain't broke why fix it."

Did Arnell or Pepsi do some basic consumer focus groups to see how they would react to the change? What prompted the change? If data was there to support the new package design then what caused Pepsi to return to its original packaging.

In a troubled economy where marketing dollars are tight to begin with I'm amazed that something like this could have happened. This was not an inexpensive venture for Pepsi and it makes you wonder what they were thinking of.

Since they kept the "cap" redesign I'd love to know what the final cost of that was? Has anyone contacted the late night TV circuit to talk about the million dollar plus cap of Tropicana.

Mark Lesselroth
Brenner Business Development

When will the madness stop? This PepsiCo press conference seems to be one headache after another. Should agencies be drawing this much attention to themselves? The Arnell Group is having to defend itself over the Pepsi logo "so-called" redesign and now dealing with a misguided change to the Tropicana carton. Five months and at what cost?

To be fair, I liked the carton lid idea, but the packaging made a great brand like Tropicana look like a store brand.

Clients, it is time to realize there is great strategic and creative thinking out there that can be done quickly and more cost-effectively. Of course, you might have to sacrifice the self-serving press conference.

David Paro, DEEP ALLIANCE MARKETING

As a matter of fact, I bought orange juice for the first time in years last week. In years past, Tropicana was always my first choice, but I must have looked at the box for 5 minutes trying to figure out if it actually was the Tropicana I wanted and not some second-tier product or generic lookalike brand. The box looks like a cheap generic knockoff. Arnell is a total clown - trying to justify his existence by making arbitrary (and extremely poorly executed) changes.

I knew it was going to fail. Only the cap was OK. 1) The transition was to big for the mothers and older people. It's cool for the younger people. 2) The colors were not attractive to my eyes. Too much white space. 3) Most people do not realize that it is a glass on the carton. Until they get real close. They think it's a curve design. Plus, it is a carton not glass. The handle on the glass shoul have been easier to see. I think it is the placement of the glass. 4) When I go buy the original Tropicana carton I get the feeling of exclusivity. But when I see the new one, I get the feeling like I'm buying something that is being mass produced. It's obvious that it is but it sticks out more with the new carton. Like, where do they get all these fresh oranges?! I loose a little trust in tropicana. But that's just me.

I'm with Peter: it's modern and elegant in the best sense -- nothing superfluous. Maybe that's the problem. The old package looks very Middle-America, just like the juice tastes. It's a world away from tasting like fresh orange juice. I wouldn't drink it on a bet. Ellen Perless, Freelance Creative Director/Copywriter, New York

The amazing thing about Peter is that, like the tent evangelists, you are entranced at one level, skeptical at another, but you always can count on a good show. The unanswered question is why the package was deemded "failed?" Peter leaves you feeling that if everyone had only heard his explanation it would have worked.

As I watched Peter Arnell explain the concept in this video, the only thing that came to mind was "this emperor has no clothes!" Forget all the thought that went into the new packaging, if the CEO of the agency could not explain it better than he did - don't launch it. There was also no mention of a partial roll-out, where real-time before-after testing of the new packaging could yield real data on consumer behavior. It appears the entire packaging line was switched to the new design, dropping the old one. Wow - Tropicana not only needs a new agency, the brand might need a CEO with an appreciation of marketing basics, as well. William H. Thompson - Thompson Group Marketing - Walnut Creek, CA

I found the package redesign refreshing and modern. I embraced the design and once again bought Tropicana. Make a decision and stick with it folks.

too over thought even though I find the squeeze cap interesting..

What's true is that designers don't want to design they want to redesign. And, increasingly, they don't want to design for the consumer, but to reflect their own tastes and sensibilities.
Arnell and his designers can't make a living designing therefore they are in the business of redesign.
Peter made a point of showing the juice in a glass, but the problem here is that juice in a glass is generic, which is to say that all orange juice in a glance looks the same at a glance—and a glance is how people experience packaging, too. Peter's problem is that he has—as those of us who have had the pleasure of working with him— a very lovely but very narrow sense of what's elegance.
Peter's lack of sincerity here is evident in his presentation, particularly in his use of the word "love," which is profoundly manipulative—who can argue against love?
Also, his rife on the word squeeze, is selective— fresh-squeezed Orange Juice is good but being squeezed to death is bad.
Unfortunately all the buzz words and the hapless attempt to make an experience of a glass of orange juice more than a glass of Orange Juice, is entirely wasted.
Peter is an aesthete with a wonderful eye, but as a thinker, he's an imposter—his storytelling is lovely, but only to those locked in cubicles and in BlackBerry correspondences and who also rely on the same borrowed words.
In the end, it is only the consumers' experience that matters, and in the course of shopping, they don't share Peter's aesthetic distance, they simply glance at a shelf and load a basket.
Users didn't like the design for one reason, it no longer reflected the product they habitually bought. If sales fall it won't be because Peter's design was lacking, but because he had inadvertently gave them the opportunity to consider a different brand.
In the end, the problem with Arnell Group's new design isn't that it's bad, in fact, it's lovely, it's that it was unnecessary.

I must admit when I first saw a shelf filled with the newly designed cartons, I thought it was store brand.

Had Arnell and Pepsi conducted any kind of consumer testing or research, it would have been clear that this was a flop. The new packaging is very elegant and "Swiss", but it definetely looks like a generic brand packaging.
I find it extremely arrogant that the designers and marketing people simply discarded the original identity of the product. The old design had a clear message of freshly squeezed in it, even if the looks were a bit dated. This was clearly the case where a simple modernization of the graphic elements would have been much more effective.
Conceptually, the "squeeze cap" is a nice addition, but I must confess that as a consumer I didn't notice it at all.
Anyways, it really surprises me that in our day and age, Pepsico and Arnell would run such an amateur show.
Pity.

How Peter Arnell got to design a car for Chrysler, the new Pepsi brand logo, and now the new/old Tropicana packaging, is beyond my comprehension. If Arnell didn't look so much like Woody Allen, I'd want to come back as him in my next life. Glad to see that somebody at Pepsi woke up and realized the iconic brand messaging inherent in the "straw-in-orange" symbol, i.e., next best and freshest thing to the orange itself. But what do I know? Arnell is very wealthy, whereas I am poor! bcrandallnyc@aol.com

The problem with the new design becomes immediately apparent when one encounters the packaging in a real life situation. At about 11:00 this evening, stopping at a Duane Reade on 6th Avenue, we found the Tropicana juice line shares a single shelf in a refrigerator case. At a glance it is impossible to tell the orange from the apple juice. Yes, if the cartons are set on a table and a consumer is given a full minute to study the containers the differences are discernible. Saying this, a shopper stopping in the store for five minutes, checking off items on his or her mental list, is likely to simply grab and run and not learn until he or she sorts through their purchases—the 100% apple and not the 100% orange. That Arnell sold this design to Pepsi is either a testament to his gifts as a salesman or to the brand managers' ignorance of or indifference to how shoppers live in the real world.

It just goes to show that if you are a client, the only real advertising agency to choose is Crispin Porter. They have proven time and again that money you spend with them will make an impact. Poor Arnell Group. They really messed up a marquee assignment.

When I first saw the carton on the shelf I thought someone had replaced the Tropicana with a store brand. When I realized it was Tropicana I thought the redesign was (just) okay. It wasn't until I bought my second redesigned container that I noticed the cap and I really thought that was cool (sorry I'm easily impressed). I think they missed an opportunity to promote something somewhere regarding this. In any case, I don't remember the last time I bought orange juice prior to buying the newly packaged Tropicana last week. Coincidence, perhaps, but looking at the two designs side-by-side in the video, I have to say I like the new one better.

When I went to buy Tropicana orange juice last weekend, I could not find it, so I ended up going with a different brand. Little did I know that the "sea" of generic store brand cartons that I saw were really the redesigned Tropicana cartons. Branding is so important...how could Arnell miss the point on this one so badly?

i agree that arnell's explanation is WAY overthought. yes, the design looks nice and modern, but the design-shy "Middle Americans" (didn't know you could class someone by their choice in OJ) got confused at the shelf. so now the brand is pulling it. i'm sure sales took a scary dip as well.

I believe his original design creation was to be an orange plastic ball holding a quart of Trop's liquid sunshine. Unfortunately, they couldn't figure out how to add the straw without cutting through all the beautiful product lines. Elegant breakfast America? "Anyone?.., "Bueller?"

Most of the posters responding to this article demonstrate a clearer understanding of what was needed than did Arnell.

PepsiCo had to place a large order for caps while the carton printing could be more simply reversed.

Arnell needs to redesign himself.

I just want to know whether PepsiCo got a refund ...

If you've ever visited their pretentious offices downtown you'd know why they created such a fiasco. Attitude doesn't cut it anymore ladies.

Arnell doesn't do focus groups. He thinks he knows better than the consumer. I guess he doesn't.
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.

as we say in yiddish for peter arnell, "schmuck" ask the people first

Doesn't he remind you of some mid-level marketing manager you've had to endure? Also reminds me of Sarah Palin. Talks and talks without saying anything.

My biggest complaint with the new packaging is how difficult it is to distinguish between the different varieties they offer. It used to be the lo-cal version was light blue, extra pulp was brown, regular bright orange. That was helpful and easy to use. All that changed with new design, which forced you to have to look closely at the label. Maybe it looks better, but not what harried shoppers with screaming kids really need or want. Plus as someone said earlier, it really does look a lot like many store brands.

Cap is kinda neat, I'll give him that.

Ray Ecke
Right Word Media, Inc

Yeah, the squeeze cap communicates "FRESH OJ" only IF the carton makes it into your fridge.

While the OWNABLE and 100% unique straw-stuck-in-orange packaging communicates "FRESH OJ" as you're debating which product to grab at the store.

Peter, seriously, you're a top guy in a top agency and you don't even realize, it's about standing out at the point of purchase, not after the purchase has been decided? Yikes. - AB www.andrewbaker77.com

I swear I thought this was a joke. People get PAID for dreaming up this BS?

Well--someone has to dream it up, I guess. But this guy looks like a character in a Woody Allen movie

(by the way AdAge--WAY too hard to register to post a comment).

I guess I'm just grumpy tonight.

Still--it's a damn CARTON FOR ORANGE JUICE!!!!!!

Seriously? A picture of orange juice in a glass is somehow more compelling than an orange being impaled by a straw? Hmmm.
Also, loved the bit about how the squeeze cap (clever though it is) somehow gets ummed and ahhed into a mother's love for her children. This Arnell chap is a tool, certainly, but someone had to say yes to this. God help us all. ;)

I suppose Arnell's design qualifies as "modern" if by that term you mean something that is bland, boring, and lacking any aesthetic sensibility. If Joan Crawford were still around she would never countenance such insipidness!

Looks like Arnell's down but not out - the new design still lives:

http://brandculturetalk.com/2009/04/21/consistency-identity-brand-and-orange-juice/