CONSUMERS IMPACT ON BRANDING

PepsiCo, producer of Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice, recently replaced their iconic packaging (the orange with the straw) with a glass of orange juice. While a seemingly small change in the company’s brand, loyal Tropicana orange juice drinkers immediately responded and expressed their disdain for the new packaging. They emailed, tweeted, blogged etc, their complaints with the new logo. In effort to appease their angered consumer base, PepsiCo quickly reverted to the old logo.

The Tropicana orange juice debacle clearly illustrates how important it is for companies to involve their existing consumer base in brand -related decisions. Rather than being retroactive by changing the product after the backlash, Tropicana should have taken into account the opinion of the buyer. In doing so, Tropicana would have not only avoided the backlash but also established a stronger relationship with customers.

While, Tropicana solicited professional logo design advice, in the end it was the customer who had the last say. By hearing and responding, Tropicana did ease upset customers. However; had they involved their loyal customers in the process in the first place, the whole situation could have been avoided.

The reason I wanted to send this to our clients is simply this: We are not our brand-our customers are. Without you, we’re nothing. So, if there is something that you would like to see changed, or just something that you would simply like to voice, please let us know. We are hear to listen, and to help.