Tropicana's identity crisis

A rebrand is much more than a logo change. Thank you, Tropicana, for this friendly reminder. The new carton design introduced in January will soon be discontinued after numerous loyal Tropicana consumers complained.

When I first discovered the new packaging, my heart sunk in disappointment. "It's not that big of a deal," I tried to convince myself, but the image of juice in a glass immediately evoked memories of half-heartedly drinking Sunny Delight as a child.

Sunny D was a modern solution upon introduction. Is it not surprising that the "modern" rebrand of Tropicana was met with such utter disappointment?

With the economy stimulating the success of private labels, brands may try to appear cheaper with sparse, boring, and generic logos and images. But this strategy can backfire big time. As one tweet puts so well: "The original packaging was brilliant – they convinced us there was an orange inside the carton. Now we learn. It's just juice."

Peter Arnell of The Arnell Group defended the rebrand and discussed the emotional connection consumers have with "squeeze." This is the strategy behind the new orange-like caps. But what about the new cartons?

By the end of this month, Tropicana will have ended this brief hiatus and the original packaging will return. Will this go down as Tropicana's mid-life crisis? Maybe next time Tropicana considers modern innovation, the brand will weigh in on consumer opinions before launching new containers in stores nationwide.