Tropicana's Packaging Redesign - Marketing Campaign Fails #3
Why Didn’t It Work?
Background
In January 2009, Tropicana announced a new, modernised packaging design for their iconic, best-selling Pure Premium Orange Juice in the US. The estimated campaign cost was $35 million.
In contrast to the previous design, which highlighted the freshness of the juice with a singular orange and straw, the modernised packaging prioritised simplicity with basic fonts and a plain glass of orange juice. A key feature change in the repackaging campaign was the spherical orange-shaped cap, which was intentionally designed to allow customers to symbolically squeeze fresh orange juice as they twisted the cap. Alongside the design campaign was the introduction of the phrase “Squeeze, it’s natural” in their packaging, as well as in television advertisements.
What happened?
Although significant time, labour and cost investment was put towards the packaging artwork redesign, the outcomes were not ideal, as reflected in a decline in sales and in consumer criticisms on social media. Within a span of two months following the launch, sales dropped by 20%, causing a loss of $33 million in sales revenue.
The main contributor to the drop in sales after Tropicana’s new packaging redesign campaign was the loss of product recognition. Although the juice itself had not changed, the new packaging failed to represent the iconic and quality orange juice traditionally associated with Tropicana, and thus deterred previously loyal customers.
Key Takeaways
It is essential that marketers retain brand equity when choosing to redesign packaging artwork. Packaging can become synonymous with a brand, often being a ‘silent salesman’ of a product. For this reason, it is crucial to consider the product design attributes of a product in the process of planning a marketing campaign, particularly when the product has accumulated valuable and long-lasting brand loyalty.
Written by Sena Yanaka and Simone Wei.
References
Team TBH. (2020, September 25). Case Study | Tropicana Rebranding Failure. The Brand Hopper. https://thebrandhopper.com/2020/09/25/case-study-tropicana-rebranding-failure/
