On Brand · The shelf
Tropicana's 45-day redesign, and what it took off the shelf
The new carton was cleaner. It also erased the two things shoppers used to find it.
By Shane Wilson · · 2 min read
In January 2009 Tropicana launched new packaging for its best-selling orange juice. The famous orange with a straw stuck in it was gone, replaced by a close-up glass of juice and a cleaner, vertical logo. On paper it looked modern. In stores, sales fell about 20 percent within two months, and the company announced it would bring the old carton back. The new design lasted roughly 45 days.
The usual telling is that customers hate change. I don't think that's it. Customers change brands all the time. What they hate is not being able to find the thing they came for.
Shoppers don't read, they recognize
Nobody reads a juice carton in the store. They scan for a shape and a color they already know, grab it, and move on. Tropicana's orange-and-straw was doing that job for millions of people. The redesign removed it and put in a generic glass of juice, which looked like a store brand. Shoppers looking for Tropicana walked right past it.
The new design wasn't ugly. It was unrecognizable, which on a shelf is worse.
What this means for your brand
- List what people use to find you. Before any redesign, write down the two or three things a returning customer actually looks for: a color, a shape, a mark, a pattern.
- Keep those, change the rest. A good refresh can update type, layout, photography and copy while keeping the assets in place. Customers should feel it's better without having to look for it.
- Test in context, not on a screen. Put the new design next to competitors, at a distance, in poor light, the way it will really be seen. If you have to search for it, so will they.
Small brands have even less room for this mistake. You don't have a $35 million ad campaign to teach people your new look.
