Comments on: Tropicana: when CCOs go wrong

By: Grant McCracken

Grant McCracken — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:08:15 +0000

Martin, beautifully, illuminatingly put, and better than what I said, much
better. Thanks, Grant

By: Martin Calle

Martin Calle — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 03:09:18 +0000

You know? I'm wondering if Massimo D'Amore did this in a premeditated fashion; the intent and failure both an excuse to purge all the smart people he's chased out of Pepsi.

By: Martin Calle

Martin Calle — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 03:06:50 +0000

The packaging went from real to processed; from looking like an old fashioned produce section fruit crate label to retort packed, hyper-processed and pastuerized center of the store aisle fare. No refrigeration needed here. The people that did this had absolutely no social aptitude whatsoever.

By: Arthur Clemens

Arthur Clemens — Sun, 31 May 2009 13:46:14 +0000

I am surprised that a sales drop is interpreted as if "consumers where furious". As if the consumers out of protest started buying the other juices that they'd never bought in the years before. The author's argument that the new brand failed to touch the American consumer is interesting, but there may be a more down-to-earth explanation for the drop in sales.

Quite possibly the agency's research was not that different than with other rebrandings. But research in the lab can be very different from reality, when hurried consumers in the supermarket are trying to find their juice. Out of the lab, consumers no longer could find their Tropicana - because it had become unrecognizable.

What should have been a small rejuvenation had turned into a completely different look.

By: atul chatterjee

atul chatterjee — Thu, 07 May 2009 08:35:42 +0000

A company the size of Pepsico could always have made some small lots and done test marketing. customer reactions could have been studied and then major moves made. CEOs are used to grand budgets this sometimes leads to grandiosity.
As far as the design goes fortunately we were not subjected to it in India. The new design looks more sophisticated and 'cool', but what one wants is a nice juicy drink. A nice colorful pack would always be welcome.

By: Henri Weijo

Henri Weijo — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:52:25 +0000

whoops, I didn't realize you couldn't stylize text. Anyway, my quotes were by Paschal Fowlkes...

"Maybe no one in the initial focus groups expressed any particular bond with the straw in the orange, or maybe they weren’t asked, but certainly Tropicana is doing the right thing by responding to those expressing such sentiments after the fact."

... and by Mehran Afshar:

"It is highly doubtful that they did not bump into "particular bond with the straw in the orange" in the Qualitative research.Even in developing economies, a Qualitative researcher for a Packaging design will surely ask these question before testing the new images/ideas for the future package. I guess they found the bond but dismissed it as "insignificant" in favor of experts/ designers opinion."

By: Henri Weijo

Henri Weijo — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:48:43 +0000

Maybe no one in the initial focus groups expressed any particular bond with the straw in the orange, or maybe they weren’t asked, but certainly Tropicana is doing the right thing by responding to those expressing such sentiments after the fact.

and

It is highly doubtful that they did not bump into "particular bond with the straw in the orange" in the Qualitative research. Even in developing economies, a Qualitative researcher for a Packaging design will surely ask these question before testing the new images/ideas for the future package.

Emphasis added.

See, I think it's impossible to gauge or uncover people's emotional attachment to a familiar (iconic) product like Tropicana with focus groups or surveys. To most, these feelings are probably hidden and tied to routines both at the breakfast table or supermarket. The importance didn't really manifest themselves until something like a new design was introduced. I actually think most people are unable to express WHY the new design was so bad compared to the old one. It probably "just didn't feel right".

It's hard to do consumer research outside the environments Tropicana is bought or consumed. The very nature of the product (repeat & routine purchases and consumption, mostly non-ego expressiveness) invites routine and it becoming a "staple" of your everyday life.

But to be fair, I also thought the new design sucked in the sense that I thought a package like didn't really stand out among other products and was very likely to be missed.

Then again, I've always been skeptical of focus groups or marketing surveys anyway. Or at least distrustful of most marketers being competent in executing either.

By: paul

paul — Sat, 02 May 2009 17:10:03 +0000

hi Grant + others, I'm not in FMCG so a little lost. Did "We needed to rejuvenate, reengineer, rethink, reparticipate in popular culture" translate into "take the orange with straw out of the package design"? And make logo less obvious. The only thing I can this doing is perhaps making it stand out less on a shelf. Am I missing something important here?

thanks, P

By: GlenH

GlenH — Sat, 02 May 2009 01:21:18 +0000

A little late on this, but another point is consumers do not automatically read writing on packaging- some consumers are functionally illiterate for example, and recognise products by the overall look of the package. Change that look and people can no longer see your product on the shelf. Another group are "bad" consumers like myself- I honestly have no idea what some of the brands I buy regulary are, I just recognise the packets!

By: Jason Harrison

Jason Harrison — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:04:54 +0000

Related to storm 3. The new package lost it's elegant utility. The bold image of the straw inserted in the orange screams orange juice to even a 3-year old, and will always be remembered.