Opinion... Tropicana U-turn shows the perils of pack design

After the brand unveiled a dramatically redesigned package on the market, consumers revolted. The company has decided to scrap the redesign and return to the former packaging.

Coca-Cola executives are stealing a private chuckle no doubt, with memories of New Coke etched indelibly into their consciousness. How did Tropicana cross a line that would send consumers into a fit about a packaging design? There are several lessons here for marketers.

First, product branding matters. Brand managers who ignore or under-value the role of the package (graphics and form) do so at their peril. This is particularly true now, during hard times when the purchase decision is more considered. And, for brands like Tropicana that have deep emotional connections to the consumer, you don’t play with the brand in a cavalier way.

Second, the design agency (and client) flubbed this one. For years, Tropicana packaging featured an iconic orange with a striped straw protruding from it. Arnell Group seems to have acted on the hunch that not showing the product (juice) on the package was a missed opportunity. I’m not sure how this was researched (or if it was researched), but it’s likely that loyal users were not surveyed properly. The expensive result of this situation is a lacklustre package that is so generic and boring it looks like private label.

For an established, premium brand like Tropicana you do not have to show the product in a glass. The orange and the straw communicate freshness very nicely - symbolic, but memorable, unique and playful. Intuition is a powerful and precious resource for designers and marketers, but one must validate it. There is a battle that rages between designers who see intuition as the rare magic behind every big design success, and clients who insist that research enforces every design decision. They are often opposing forces. You don’t achieve innovation strictly through research, nor should intuition be untested. As Steve Jobs said: “Sometimes you have to tell consumers what they want”.

Arnell did get one thing right. Virtually forgotten in this expensive mess is the screw cap atop the carton. It is the shape and colour of an orange, and you squeeze it when you turn it. Brilliant! Intuition lives another day.

Third, technology makes design a democratic process, when you make a mistake. The consumer protest was swift and strong - and to Tropicana’s credit it listened and made the tough decision to return to the former design.

The fourth lesson here is that designers are not rock stars and should not eagerly seek the limelight. If you view the press conference on YouTube, you see Peter Arnell introducing the new Tropicana package. Arnell is a brilliant designer, but he comes across in public as a pretentious, design bourgeois - the flashy suit and tie, the Corbusier frames, his design speech (“the design journey…”) and the friendship bracelet. Joe the Plumber would so like to kick his butt. He’s not ‘one of us’, and in this type of event technology serves as a magnifying glass.

In 1985, Coke launched a sweeter formula that had been rigorously tested and validated. It was a disaster (even before the internet). You can rationalise with the consumer about your category, but if you do not properly gauge the emotional connection to your brand, you can make a huge mistake.


Craig Briggs, MD Brandimage Asia
[email protected]