Consumers Speak, Brand Does About-Face

Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice, a brand owned by PepsiCo, today announced that though the company recently unveiled new packaging/branding for this product, it would soon be reverting back to the original packaging. Remarkable! Some thoughts:

1. It happened so quickly. The new look wasn't on the shelves for more than a few weeks. Remember when the much-maligned New Coke was unveiled? It took months before Coca-Cola reacted and went back to their original formula, though sales were suffering and consumers' reaction was unadulterated outrage.

2. The formula for Tropicana Pure Premium didn't change – just the packaging – and yet consumers were irate. Some brands have it, some don't.

3. Think of the money that was spent – undoubtedly, millions upon millions. And millions more to undo the damage.

4. What's really worth noting in this case is the reason for PepsiCo's reaction: consumers sharing their opinions not just with PepsiCo, but with each other and the world. Social media is becoming a powerful tool (some would call it a weapon) for consumers to voice their opinions, and more companies will be reticent to make changes that aren't first "approved" by their audience. Social media can, if done properly, function as a sort of world-wide focus group; unfortunately, there will also be some brands that put too much stock in it. There's a fine line, and brands need to know when to react, and when to ignore.

5. This is a great example of brand democratization: some brands are, in essence, owned by the consumers who love and are loyal to them, not the companies who sell the products. (Those that are, however, do well to realize it and act accordingly.)

6. I wouldn't want to have been on the creative team that worked on this at Arnell Group, the agency that did the redesign. Heads are gonna roll. Especially after the debacle with the Pepsi brand revamp (more on that tomorrow - stay tuned!)

7. To read today's New York Times article about this mess, go to http://tinyurl.com/bfekr5