Suicide Squeeze?

9 Inch Axiom – Tactile Design

“Many times the feel of a product can be more important than the look”

In a bold move the folks from Tropicana have redesigned their orange juice carton.  Some may say ‘risky’ as the brand owns around 40% of the OJ market.  The iconic image of the orange with the straw is gone for now.  Enter a carton with a clean look and clear messaging. Mixed reviews on the packaging design, but it has people talking.  Part of the redesign was a redesign of the cap with an aim towards ‘tactile design’.  It’s the one element that everyone seems to like.  

Here is an excerpt from an article on the redesign in Brandweek:

Here is the capper: Tropicana wanted a physical mnemonic for the brand. The design team took half of a mid-season orange and created a cap that mimicked its peel in both color and texture. Because you have to squeeze it and turn it, “the cap symbolically represents the essence of the message which is that it the juice is fresh squeezed,” said Arnell. The cap is made from a special gauge of plastic with a soft rebound to it, he said. “It’s got a tactile quality, not unlike an orange. It helped us create a whole new ritual for Tropicana.” 

Here is another 9 INCH AXIOM on Familiarity:

“People in life don’t know what they like . . . they like what they know”.

Consumers have an emotional bond with the iconic orange and straw.  I’m not sure that replacing it with a generic glass of orange juice is gonna fly. Orange juice is a commodity and the last thing you want to be in this tough economy is to be seen as ‘generic’ at a premium price.  

Update 2/26/09:  Tropicana is going back to the old packaging.  Not all bad news as they are keeping the cap.

Today’s Lagniappe – A story and a bit of trivia:

Story: When I was in graduate school I was afforded the opportunity to work for a couple of summers for IMG in Bradenton, Florida.  It so happened that Tropicana was based in Bradenton and I had the opportunity to network with some key folks at Tropicana.  When I was finishing school I had the opportunity to interview for a job in their frozen orange juice division.  The process went on for months and I ended up having five different interviews. Finally I was told that I didn’t get the job.  I was gutted and when I ask for the reason they said it was because I couldn’t concentrate.

Trivia: – Where does the name for the mixed drink ‘screwdriver’ come from?  The combo of orange juice and vodka was popular with the folks that worked in the oil fields.  They had a practice of mixing the drink with a screwdriver.

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