Tropicana: Out with the Old, In with the New, Out with the New...

AdAge reports that not only was Tropicana's recent packaging change a customer-relations fiasco, but also a financial drain on the brand: Dollar sales of Tropicana Pure Premium dropped 19% from Jan. 1 to Feb. 22 of this year (category dollar sales fell 5% in the same time period). On Feb. 23, Tropicana announced that it was pulling the new design and reverting to the old. (The full AdAge article can be found here: http://adage.com/article?article_id=135735. Registration may be required.)

Both designs are shown below, with the original design on the left, and the new (recently removed) design on the right.

This has been a major design snafu (I can't think of a bigger one in recent history), and there's been quite a bit of talk in the marketing community about what exactly went wrong. Consensus seems to be that it's a failure of marketing research - that research should have kept this design from hitting the shelves. I've got a different point of view.

To me, this is a failure of design strategy. There must be a strategic reason behind every design choice that you make. Peter Arnell, whose agency is responsible for the new design, said at the time of its launch, "It's time to remind consumers that Tropicana Pure Premium is pure, natural and squeezed from fresh oranges." If that was the design objective, the increased prominence of "100% orange" makes some sense. But why select an overall design that feels so "generic," especially for a brand with such a heritage of "premium"? And why, especially, would you walk away from the "straw in the orange" - a smart symbol of the purity of the juice inside, and an ownable element of the visual identity - and replace it with a standard-issue, unownable glass of orange juice?

I can't comment intelligently on whether "pure, natural and squeezed from fresh oranges" is the right message for Tropicana. It's clear, however, that their design strategy in conveying that message was wildly off the mark. That's not a research issue - that's a strategy issue.

The lessons for the rest of us: If you're going to make significant changes to your brand's visual identity, there must be clear strategic reasons to do so. And if you're going to walk away from strong elements of your brand's equity - such as Tropicana's "straw in the orange" - you had better be certain you're moving to something even better.

What's your take on the Tropicana redesign?