Minute Maid Gets New Look Worldwide

Atlanta -- The Coca-Cola Co. is updating all of its 100-plus juice brands worldwide, including Minute Maid in the U.S., to give the juices a contemporary look and unite the brands. The redesign is one of the largest branding efforts the beverage giant has ever undertaken.Venkatesh Kini, vice president of marketing for Coca-Cola's Global Juice Center, says, "This is a very fragmented market and we recognize that a unified approach to branding our juice portfolio will build equity and drive further growth." Over the past decade, the company's share of the juice category has nearly doubled, making it twice the size of its biggest competitor. Coca-Cola wouldn't say who that competitor is since it "can vary by country."Of course, changing the look of orange juice can be risky. PepsiCo, Coke's largest competitor in the U.S., made headlines when its packaging redesign for Tropicana received so much consumer backlash that the company swiftly reverted back to the original look.In Coca-Cola's case, the common look and feel for the redesigned packaging was based on Minute Maid's well-known logo -- a black rectangle and white logotype lettering. The new design maintains the logo, but updates it with rounded edges and a green horizon mark meant to reconnect the brand to nature. "You can't throw away your equity. You need to build on it and modernize it," says Tom Farrell, Coca-Cola's design director.The design was inspired by the way fruit vendors worldwide display their fruit. When containers are placed side by side on a shelf, they create an interlocking visual of whole fruit. "One consumer responded to the new design by saying it looked like the produce shelf in a farmers' market," says Farrell.To guide its efforts, Coca-Cola conducted extensive consumer qualitative research in the U.S., Latin America, Europe and Asia. "We had multiple sessions with groups of four to five people focusing on different pack designs and shelf-impact testing," Farrell says.As part of its research, Coca-Cola also studied consumer behavior in produce sections of big box retailers to gain a greater market context. "We looked at the lighting in the store, where the product is on the shelf and how consumers access it," Farrell says. "We were watching how consumers were approaching the aisles, managing the shopping baskets, their kids -- it was very qualitative." Coca-Cola created the strategic direction for the designs and worked with Duffy & Partners, Minneapolis, and CMA Brand Presence, Houston, to execute them.With more than 100 different flavors and varieties of juices and juice drinks, the company is targeting every shopper, but is hoping to tap into younger consumers with the symmetrical design and modern look of the new packaging. "We saw a tremendous opportunity to take a very established brand, modernize it and tap into younger audiences that are seeing a greater emergence in the variety of beverages on the market," Farrell says.Minute Maid is available in more than 70 countries worldwide. The new packaging hit shelves in the United States in November '09 and will be released worldwide throughout 2010. "The U.S. was one of our lead markets so it was natural to focus our attention there," Farrell says. "We're also rolling out in other markets as their cycle kicks in."In addition to Minute Maid, brands including Del Valle, Andina and Cappy are all part of the redesign effort. Packaging guidelines and designs are available on an internal, Web-based tool called "Design Machine" so each global market can produce packaging quickly and minimize costs.Coca-Cola is currently working on point-of-sale materials for the U.S. and expects to roll them out mid-year. The Duffy & Partners website shows pictures of a freestanding Minute Maid cooler tied to the new packaging. Farrell did not disclose specific rollout dates, but says there will be P-O-S for three specific retail zones: the awareness zone when consumers enter the store; the enticement zone as they're navigating the store; and the choice zone at the shelf. Materials may include posters, ceiling danglers and shelf strips. "It will be tightly identified with the core packaging," he says. There will also be out-of-store promotions, but the company would not elaborate. As part of the redesign, Minute Maid updated its tagline to read, "Put Good In. Get Good Out." Ashley Schmidt, director of marketing for Minute Maid, says, "Our new tagline reflects a belief that we as a brand share with our consumers -- that the effort you put in is equal to the good you get out."Farrell says U.S. retailers have had a positive response to the new designs. Coca-Cola hopes to see an uptick in sales and revenue, but will also continue conducting qualitative and quantitative research to gauge the success of the redesign.

Minute Maid Gets New Look Worldwide

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