Redesigns are risky and exciting. With a redesign, you can rebrand entire products, organizations even. You can redefine what something is, how to use it, even convince people to purchase it at a higher price point. But it’s not only about potential, it’s about trust. When we redesign, we’re trusting that our existing consumer base won’t leave us. That they’ll still be able to find us and maintain our relationship, maybe even make it stronger. And on the otherwise, we’re hoping to build a new trust with a different, or at least a wider customer based.
But with all that potential and all that trust comes a big risk – that people will think less of our value proposition, that people won’t understand our value proposition, that people won’t like our value proposition, or, perhaps worst of all, that they literally can’t find our value proposition at all.
That’s the risk that Tropicana took in 2008 and that risk did not pay off. In an attempt to update and, in the CEO’s words, create a more “modern” brand, Tropicana changed the look of their iconic orange juice carton. They removed the famous orange with a striped white and red straw going through it, the ultimate symbol of freshness. That image told us that their orange juice was so good and so fresh, it was like literally drinking an orange. They removed much of the contrast on that carton. Instead of green on white text, they had white on orange text, making it harder to read and harder to spot on a shelf.
The only graphic on the carton is half a glass of orange juice, one half showing in the front and the other half showing on the side. If you’re looking at the carton straight on, which is what most people look at when shopping for orange juice, you can only see half a glass and you can barely tell it’s a glass of orange juice. From a distance, it just looks like a random orange background. And in a see of other orange juice cartons, it gets lost entirely. But in terms of design decisions, perhaps the most confusing one is the decision to turn the logo of Tropicana to be read vertically. It goes up the side of the edge of the carton, making it harder to read. It’s also a lighter shade of green, creating less contrast. It’s literally hard to read the name of the brand you’re looking for. The final redesign made the famous brand practically invisible, another orange and white colored carton blending perfectly into the background.
But here’s the thing – the redesign is pretty. In terms of modern aesthetics and a minimal feel, it hits all the marks. It’s pleasant to look at, feels sleek and edgy. It looks like something Apple would design if they designed orange cartoons. But Apple doesn’t need to stand out against a see of other computers. It doesn’t need all that contrast and a loud logo. Apple computers are sold all on their own, with complete control of their branding with no competition around to stand up against. They can get away with their minimal aesthetic.
But orange juice, a purchasing decision made in seconds as part of a long list of other grocery items to buy, can’t afford to be sleek and “modern”. They have to be loud. They have to burst through the noise of the tons of orange juices they’re literally sitting next to, and their design does not help them accomplish that.
And the sales showed. They spent $35M on creating the redesign and lost 20% of the revenue within a month. The market has spoken. Being modern doesn’t always win.
https://medium.com/better-marketing/the-worst-rebrand-in-the-history-of-orange-juice-1fc68e99ad81
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