Out with the new in with the old

After & Before.

Last month the juice brand Tropicana changed its packaging on its flagship product, good ol' fashioned orange juice or OJ if you're from the States. Out went the classic image of the orange with a protruding straw, a simple visual that works well. In Branguage™ (a language used by those who inhabit planet Brand) they wanted the redesign to “refresh the brand and drive a natural fruit goodness message”. So they got rid of a picture of an actual orange and replaced it with a glass of orange juice. Which makes sense, obviously. On the whole the redesign is pretty dull, unexciting and instead of standing out it gets lost in the generic orangey blur of the juice aisle. In fact generic is a good word to sum up the redesign.

Generic; something that is general, common, or inclusive rather than specific, unique, or selective.

This word could be used to sum up a lot of branding at the minute. A drift to get rid of any real heritage and the elements that make them unique, in favour of something Brandy. No, not the drink but trandy logos or a silly made up name, completely dull, charmless and utterly meaningless.

But in a backlash some of Tropicana's most loyal customers complained passionately. And they were even listened too. PepsiCo surprisingly reverted back to the old packaging this month. Which isn’t the answer either, it does need freshening up but hopefully that’s the next step.