05/01/2024
Before you read this article, go and look at the attached picture. It shows two packages of the brand Tropicana, BEFORE and AFTER rebranding.
Ask yourself;
Which of the two looks better?
I know we may have different views on this, but we can agree that the one on the right, the AFTER one, looks more modern, simplified, catchy, with less fluff.
Well, that's exactly what Tropicana thought in January of 2009, when they decided to change their brand.
They were like, "We are going into the new year, new us, we are changing everything and leaving everything else behind."
Well they did....
If you read my articles, you remember what I said in another article;
"If you serve a bad cup of coffee and you have customers, always serve a bad cup of coffee."
This quote, I know, may be a bit too extreme, but at the heart of it, it simply means; "As you change your strategy, remember not to change what really matters to the customer."
That's what happened to Tropicana. They spent about $35 million on changing their logo, and launching a marketing project to push the new logo.
Well, the change did not work. Instead of winning, they lost about 20% market share, plus about $50 million in direct loses.
By the end of February the same year, they resorted to go back to their original logo.
Imagine, in under two months, like the prodigal son, they said, "I am going back to my father's house."
What do we learn from this?
The great Myles Munroe once said; "Before you change, first identify what not to change."
A number of new year strategies fail because, instead of building on the available strengths, they attempt to change everything completely... so much that people don't want to be associated with the new brand anymore.
I am sure customers for Tropicana were like,
"Eeh, ok... but where is the Orange đ?"
And Tropicana executives would be like,
"It's there, we just poured it in the glass đ„ for you."
Then the customers went like,
"No, no, no... That can be anything else, we want to see the Orange đ".
A similar thing happened when Mercedes Benz introduced a Pick up, or Truck as it is called in other countries.
Customers were like, "No man, leave that for Toyota, Isuzu and Ford, we know you for executive saloons and SUVs, not this.." And the Mercedes Benz Pick Up failed.
I repeat;
As you create your so called "Cutting Edge Strategy," "New Year, New Me." First identify what not to change. Otherwise you will end up adopting a strategy that will be like scoring an own goal.
Progress comes by building on what already exists.