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Editorial Clear cranberry juiceLet's hope Robert Hawthorne is as good a marketer as he is a showman. His rhetoric has Ocean Spray growers enthusiastic about the launch of a new clear cranberry juice in test markets. If he's right about the potential sales of clear cranberry juice, not only will Ocean Spray benefit, but so will the entire industry. Of course, that's if people buy more cranberry juice overall and don't merely switch from red to clear. It will also benefit the industry if some cranberries which are picked green can immediately be made into concentrate. By all reports the juice tastes great. But will it sell? And as far as Ocean Spray's bottom line, will it sell well enough, even in test markets, to make back the cost of manufacture, packaging, advertising, promotion and slotting fees? Skepticism about whether consumers will accept a clear cranberry juice has been answered on the Cranberry Stressline Forum by pointing out how readily shoppers buy both purple and white grape juice. But there's a major difference. While those in the cranberry industry know that harvested cranberries are both pale green and crimson, consumers see the cranberry as red. All of the advertising of cranberries has shown red cranberries. Harvest pictures always show the brightest red cranberries. Cranberries even get free advertising because "cranberry" is considered a color just like lime and lemon.
Ocean Spray's second in command, Randy Papadellis, hailed from Welch's before he came to Ocean Spray as President and C.O.O. A look at his former employer's web site is instructive. Do some of these statements look familiar?
The above quotes are all from the Welch's web page about purple grape juice. They could just as easily be referring to red cranberry juice. The target consumer for Welch's white grape juice is mothers with infants. They state that of the three clear juices typically recommended by pediatricians as weaning foods, apple, pear and white grape, only white grape juice has no sorbitol and an even balance of fructose and glucose. Although some consumers may assume that any cranberry juice has the research proven health benefits, the fact is that cranberry companies can only advertise juices with at least 27% red cranberry as having scientifically verified health benefits because this is what was used in the studies. Mothers who now buy apple, pear and white grape for weaning infants may do so if their pediatricians suggest it. However, before Ocean Spray advertises a clear juice for weaning infants the way Welch's is doing (see their web site) they will need research to back up their recommendations. There's nothing like a the prospect of a radically new product to rally the troops. It provides a welcome distraction for growers who want to focus on something positive. Changing the traditional color of a familiar food product has its risks. No doubt Heinz had high hopes that green EZ Squirt Ketchup, introduced in October and aimed at kids, would generate profits. And, by all reports, it is so far selling well. But children are fickle when it comes to food. EZ Squirt could be green today and gone tomorrow. *
Robert Hawthorne is gambling. If the clear juice does well in test markets and is introduced nationally at great expense, there's no guarantee that it will have the legs to go the distance. If he's right, and it increases overall sales and is profitable, he will be hailed for his marketing acumen. If he's wrong, his clear cranberry juice may end up, along with Wellfleet Farms 100% Juice, as another ill conceived money losing Ocean Spray project. * "Green ketchup will be gone in two years," predicts Marilyn Raymond, director of corporate relations for the New Products Showcase & Learning Center, Inc., a consulting firm in Ithaca, N.Y. Raymond believes that the novelty of putting the artificially colored ketchup on burgers will quickly fade and so will repeat purchases. Households with children and adults won't want to continually buy two different ketchups, she adds. Washington Post Jan. 2, 2001 ** Humor: The Legacy of Crystal Pepsi | The Myth of Crystal Pepsi | Pepsi feeds off public ignorance More: Recommended
reading: It’s
okay to change your strategy, says Sergio Zyman. Coca-Cola’s former
marketing whiz demonstrates it with how he fought Crystal Pepsi and
Snapple An excerpt from the book The
End of Marketing As We Know It by Sergio Zyman Just about everything you could possibly want to know about Heinz Green Ketchup
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Grapes
come in two "basic" colors. White grapes, which are really
more of a light green, and various shades of red and purple. The typical
juice consumer doesn't know a Niagara Grape from a Concord Grape. Clear grape juice really is
pale yellow, and appears similar enough to a common table grape so a
shopper won't think the product is a gimmick or is "missing
something." As far as the consumer is concerned, cranberries only
"come in one color." She doesn't know a Stevens from a Howe.
Tinkering
with consumer's notions of how a beverage should look can be perilous.
For example, in 1992 Pepsico introduced a clear cola drink called
Crystal Pepsi. It's still fondly remembered by posters on