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How did Tropicana lose $30M in a packaging redesign?

bootcamp.uxdesign.cc

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Re: How did Tropicana lose $30M in a packaging redesign?

#51

This is a little bit of a tangent, but I've always thought that it was funny that orange juice is overwhelmingly sold in liquid form, not as frozen concentrate. You can buy concentrate here in the US, but it's much less common (and, IME, fewer and fewer grocery stores stock it.) Given that most liquid orange just is just reconstituted concentrate anyways, buying the liquid form means paying for the shipping and space…

>Given that most liquid orange just is just reconstituted concentrate anyways, buying the liquid form means paying for the shipping and space cost of the water. You're incorrect. The "fresh" non-concentrated market is a lot bigger than the concentrate market in the US, at least. Has been since the 80's. It's more than a 10:1 ratio, actually.

Do you have a source for that? Not that I don't believe you; it's just surprising. My understanding was that orange juice ships poorly, even among fruit juices, which is why the concentrate market was still large.

Edit: I found a survey from 2009[1] where non-reconstituted orange juice was over 50% of the market. So I'm completely wrong about this!

[1]: https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/media/crecifasufledu/extension/ext...

Re: How did Tropicana lose $30M in a packaging redesign?

#52
post #44

I don't see how the eye tracking would have predicted the failure. It tells you people now see 100% orange over seeing Tropicana? But now that you know that, how do you know seeing 100% orange will lower sales as compared to seeing Tropicana?

Becaue people are looking for the brand.

Re: How did Tropicana lose $30M in a packaging redesign?

#54
post #2

It is my theory, backed up by nothing but instinct and my own very fallible personal experience, that many customers simply did not “see“ the new design. That is, they would have preferred to buy Tropicana but assumed it had disappeared from the shelves.

I am surprised by how the redesign looks like a lot of store brand versions.

Re: How did Tropicana lose $30M in a packaging redesign?

#55
Poorly written article. Says exactly the opposite of what it means several times. Here’s the totally wrong conclusion, for example:

“On the other hand, the new packaging failed to impress the consumers, with clean lines, a lack of visuals, transforming the once indistinguishable orange juice into a “generic store brand” product.”

The orange juice used to be distinguishable, not indistinguishable!

It’s very hard to read articles that are so poorly written that they say the opposite of what they mean and rely on the reader to suss out their actual intent.

Re: How did Tropicana lose $30M in a packaging redesign?

#56
post #39
post #2

It is my theory, backed up by nothing but instinct and my own very fallible personal experience, that many customers simply did not “see“ the new design. That is, they would have preferred to buy Tropicana but assumed it had disappeared from the shelves.

Yes, I have lost, literally lost things I liked to buy at the grocery, due to changed packaging. One time I had to Google images for a 20 minutes to find old images, then write down the brand/ type. Another, the package changed, and the new package stated some strange "new" ingredient, which left me struggling to know if the flavour changed. I honestly would just prefer a package never changes for my entire life. Edi…

If you're not aware, "New and improved" generally means the product was changed to reduce ingredient costs. So hopefully I've ruined the "meaning" for you.

Re: How did Tropicana lose $30M in a packaging redesign?

#57
post #3

Obligatory XKCD: https://xkcd.com/993/

This generic packaging appeared in the movie "Repo Man" [1], apparently based on similar grocery store products [2].

[1] https://twitter.com/waxpancake/status/1002568447140622336

[2] https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/107433/whats-the-...

Re: How did Tropicana lose $30M in a packaging redesign?

#58
It's no accident that popular brand redesigns are usually just fresh coats of paint on their existing visual identity.

Apple: lost the rainbow, same silhouette

Google: still multicolored wordmark, but in a more modern font

BMW: same silhouette, reduced color palette

UPS: same colors and composition, simplified shapes

Brands are worth money they engender loyalty: people become repeat customers from brands they trust. If they don't recognize your brand, why would they choose it?

Re: How did Tropicana lose $30M in a packaging redesign?

#59

While we're at it, please find the numpty that did the redesign of the the Newcastle Brown label, and makes sure they are never allowed to work in graphic design or commercial art ever again.

I think it tastes different now too, but I can't find an old bottle to compare.

I thought there was something wrong with the last bottle I had, other than the label, and now I read this:

"Newcastle Brown Ale is no longer available in the United States. A product labelled “Newcastle Brown Ale” is still sold but it is produced by Lagunitas Brewing Company and has little in common with the original product."

What. The. Fuck.

Re: How did Tropicana lose $30M in a packaging redesign?

#60

IMHO the biggest visible difference to me (besides the "straw orange" trademark) is the original one has the brand Tropicana very clearly in the middle, while the redesign puts it in much-less-readable-at-a-glance vertical text on the side. To someone quickly scanning the shelves, the former stands out and immediately tells you it's Tropicana, while the latter would probably tell you only "100% orange" --- fine, it's…

Personally I noticed the brand change but found the new branding so lame that my lizard brain suspected the quality had also gone down. It just wasn't Tropicana anymore.
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