A Second Squeeze: Tropicana’s Packaging Turnaround

Tropicana knows better than most what it means to “find out the hard way”. In fact you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in the global marketing community that hasn’t heard of the brand’s infamous 2009 redesign. The perennial punching bag of LinkedIn influencers across the globe, the Tropicana case study now acts as the ultimate cautionary tale for how not to approach a rebrand. Specifically…‍

1. ‍Don’t mess with your distinctive assets‍
2. ‍Don’t interrupt established shopping patterns
3. Don’t change everything all at once

Which brings us to the present day. When news of Tropicana’s latest rebrand broke, curiosity (and perhaps even a touch of dread) rippled through Cubery HQ. Early impressions weren’t entirely reassuring. While some of the brand’s core assets remained intact, the removal of the classic carafe-style bottle (with a more generic, rectangular bottle instead replacing it) prompted the obvious question: “have they managed to do it again?” Have they sacrificed recognizability and uniqueness for the sake of “freshness” and “breathing new life” into the brand’s assets?

To get to the bottom of this question, we A/B tested the old and new packaging with everyday grocery shoppers to see what impact (if any) the changes had. And… hallelujah, the results were positive!

While the change in bottle shape introduced a separate set of challenges (largely outside of Tropicana’s control), the decision to move away from this asset didn’t come at the brand’s expense. Though the shift was certainly noticed, the new pack ultimately maintained the same level of shelf standout, emotional appeal, and recognizability as its predecessor.

This outcome wouldn’t have been possible if the brand had repeated the same mistake of making sweeping changes to the rest of its core design architecture. With the familiar logo and distinct orange visual still sitting at the center of the new pack’s vertically stacked layout (exactly where people expected to see it), this helped bridge the gap between old and new. Even with a number of elements being revamped (including the bottle shape and smaller cues such as the leaf in the Tropicana lockup), people were still left in no doubt as to who the product belonged to.

While the 2009 misstep will forever be cited in marketing textbooks, the brand’s latest refresh provides a complementary tale, reminding marketers that “considered evolution” should be their foremost priority when it comes to an established brand. A complete makeover is generally only necessary for small, niche, or emerging brands. For established players like Tropicana (whose focus should be firmly centered on maintaining the brand’s mental and physical availability), the goal isn’t reinvention: it’s continued recognition.

Tropicana may have found out the hard way 16 years ago, but it’s clear that they’ve since learned their lesson. And as they say, better late than never!

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