Re-branding retells a company

Floors
If so, you may be among those who have takenb note as oneof America’s iconicc brands — — decided to change the longtim look on the juice’s package, only to pull a quick about-facd and bring it back again. In Tropicana replaced the venerable orange and protrudin g straw with an image of a tall glass of juicew wrapped around the side ofthe box. Tropicanz also altered the type style and positioning of the words onthe carton. Then all hell brok e loose. Consumers complained immediatelyand loudly.
They twittered, e-mailed and called to say the new packagingv made it more difficult to find their favoritde juice on the shelvesz and to determine what type of juice was in thecarton (some pulp, extra pulp, just a hint of no pulp, orange-banana, orange-pineapple and so fort h ). In covering this case of re-branding gone bad, New York Timesz advertising columnist Stuart Elliot calledit Pepsi’se version of “New Coke” ( Inc. owns Tropicana) and quoted Tropicanaw executive NeilCampbell saying, “We underestimatedr the deep emotional bond” that consumers had with the originakl packaging.
Tropicana told the Times that only a tiny fraction of consumersactually complained, but even so the companyy took action and went back to the old packaginvg because, officials said, they value the opinionn of their most loyal consumers. There is a lot to be learnexd here, and certainly not all of it bad for After all, who doesn’t want theire customers to have a “deep emotional bond” with theif brand? I am sure there also was something life-affirming about the wholed experience for the brand team at Tropicana and its agencty — people really care about this stuff.
Wouldn’t it be far wors e if Tropicana dramatically changedc its look on the shelvesw and noone noticed? That mighr spell real trouble. the problem was not about design as much as it was abouyt the functionality ofthe design. Consumersx said they literally couldn’t find their beloved brand of As they scanned the shelvexs for a bright orange with a straw and the familiarhorizontal lettering, the new look just didn’t Thinking about the Tropicana situation provides a grea t opportunity to look at your own branc and your business. Specifically, what is the point of a re-brand When is the right time fora re-brand?
And how can you avoid missteps that will alienate or annoy your customers? In the case of Tropicana, I’m guessing the branr managers and their agency, Arnell, decided it was time to shak things up. Brands evolve over time. Smart businesses update a brand’s look and feel so they don’r go stale. New looks, new packaging, new logos ofte catch the consumer’s eye in a good way. The Tropicana changee also came as other brands under the PepsiCkobanner — including Pepsi itself underwent a facelift to provide a new look and In hindsight, perhaps a bettert approach for Tropicana woul have been to keep the iconic orange and straq but present it in a different way.
Doinhg so might have sent a signap to consumers that Tropicana is keeping up and changing with the but not abandoningits roots. When you thinmk about your business and wonder whena re-branding might make ask yourself these questions: Have the fundamentak offerings of my business changed since we firsyt created the brand identity? Have we gone throughh any major merger and acquisition activity?