The redesigned packaging, introduced in early January, is being discontinued and the previous version will be brought back during March.
Also returning will be the long-time Tropicana brand symbol: an orange with a straw. The symbol, meant to evoke fresh taste, had been supplanted on the new packages by a glass of orange juice.
The U-turn comes after consumers complained about the makeover in letters, emails and telephone calls, and clamoured for a return of the original look. Some of those commenting described the new packaging as “ugly” or “stupid”, and resembling “a generic bargain brand” or a “store brand”.
“Do any of these package-design people actually shop for orange juice?” the writer of one email message asked rhetorically. “I do, and the new cartons stink.”
Others described the redesign as making it more difficult to distinguish among the varieties of Tropicana, or differentiate Tropicana from other orange juices.
Such attention is becoming increasingly common as interactive technologies enable consumers to rapidly convey opinions to marketers.
“You used to wait to go to the water cooler or a cocktail party to talk something over,” said Richard Laermer, chief executive at RLM Public Relations in New York. “Now, every minute is a cocktail party. You write an email and in an hour, you’ve got a fan base agreeing with you.”
That ability to share brickbats or bouquets with other consumers is important because it facilitates the formation of ad hoc groups, more likely to be listened to than individuals.
“There will always be people complaining, and always be people complaining about the complainers,” said Peter Shankman, a public relations executive who specialises in social media. “But this makes it easier to put us together.”
Neil Campbell, president at Tropicana North America in Chicago, part of PepsiCo Americas Beverages, acknowledged that consumers can communicate with marketers “more readily and more quickly” than ever. “For companies that put consumers at the centre of what they do, it’s a good thing,” he said.
It wasn’t the volume of the outcries that led to the corporate change of heart, Campbell said, because “it was a fraction of a percent of the people who buy the product”. Rather, the criticism is being heeded because it came, Campbell said in a New York Times telephone interview, from some of “our most loyal consumers”.
“We underestimated the deep emotional bond they had with the original packaging”, he added. “Those consumers are very important to us, so we responded.”
Among those who underestimated that bond was Neil Campbell himself. In an interview last month to discuss the new packaging, he said, “The straw and orange have been there for a long time, but people haven’t necessarily had a huge connection to them”.
An ad campaign for Tropicana that helped herald the redesigned cartons, also introduced last month, will continue to run, Campbell said. Print and outdoor ads that have already appeared will not be changed, he added, but future elements of the campaign – such as commercials due this March – would be updated.
Unlike the packaging, the campaign has drawn praise, particularly for including in its family imagery several photographs of fathers and children hugging. Such dad-centric images are rare in food ads.
The campaign, which carries the theme ‘Squeeze, it’s a natural’, was created by Arnell in New York, part of the Omnicom Group. Arnell also created the new version of the Tropicana packaging. “Tropicana is doing exactly what they should be doing,” Peter Arnell, chairman and chief creative officer at Arnell, said. “I’m incredibly surprised by the reaction, but I’m glad Tropicana is getting this kind of attention.”
One aspect of the new Tropicana packaging is being salvaged: plastic caps for the cartons, also designed by Arnell, that are shaped and coloured like oranges. These caps will be used, Campbell said, for cartons of Trop 50, a variety of Tropicana with less sugar and calories.
During the interview last month, Campbell said that Tropicana would spend more than $35m on the ‘Squeeze’ campaign. Although he declined to discuss how much it would cost to scrap the new packaging and bring back the previous design, he said the amount “isn’t significant”.
Asked if he was chagrined that consumers rejected the changes he thought they wanted, Campbell replied: “I feel it’s the right thing to do, to innovate as a company. I wouldn’t want to stop innovating as a result of this.”
Source: The New York Times
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