The other day I went to the grocery store and stopped in the OJ section to pick up a carton of Tropicana. When I reached for it, I quickly drew back my hand as I was faced with some cracker jack looking generic orange juice. Where’s my Tropicana with the straw punctured in an orange? Maybe Tropicana is pulling a prank and I’m secretly being filmed for a commercial like Burger King did when they pretended to eliminate the Whopper from their menu. It was then I realized this was no joke. Tropicana ripped out their straw, squirted orange juice in my eye and changed their package design.
I imagine what went on during the brainstorm session of creating their new packaging. They began to discuss how the economy crisis is affecting people’s spending habits when some genius said, “I have an idea. Instead of maintaining and building loyalty, why don’t we change our classic, trustworthy design to a generic one and deceive consumers into thinking they’re buying a store brand of orange juice?†I couldn’t help but feel betrayed and offended by their decision. I thought Tropicana was all about the orange, not the green. If they had stayed true to their core and reminded me why they were worth my money rather than trick me to squeeze some extra pennies, I wouldn’t have questioned my loyalty to them.
As if deception wasn’t enough of a shot to the heart, Tropicana created confusion among consumers. People either didn’t recognize them or if you’re like me, you wondered if their orange juice was going to make your mimosa taste bad. Was it not 100 percent juice before? A generic design put the quality at risk. It was lifeless, forgettable, and bruised the value of their brand. They destroyed their iconic soul and lost the core essence of what made them great.
Even though some loved the simple look, most wanted the classic design back. The new design didn’t resonate. Some called it, “the end of an era.†Consequently, after two months of consumer protests towards the package redesign, Tropicana has decided to return to the design we know and love. They made an expensive mistake, but they redeemed themselves by listening to their consumers. Branding is about building relationships out of love and loyalty, whereas marketing focuses on transactions. The economy crisis has become a pivotal test for companies. Tropicana taught us all a valuable lesson – don’t mess with the brand.
Jordan Sullivan is a marketing director for Chick-fil-A.
