This Logo Change Caused Tropicana Sales To Plunge

People rarely consciously look at logos. Their shopping habits were formed years ago, and don't change, especially for essentials. But when packaging suddenly changes in a big way, they definitely notice. When Tropicana tried to change things up, customers revolted, and they lost a fifth of their sales in a matter of weeks.

Bloomberg's Market Makers brought on Olson Chief Creative Officer Dennis Ryan, a veteran of campaigns for Target and Budweiser, to discuss Yahoo's logo strategy. He reminded viewers of Tropicana's efforts to modernize its classic straw-in-orange packaging.

"About five years ago [Tropicana] went to this very clean but kind of cold-looking logo, and their sales dropped 20% in one month. Some pundits said they weren't recognizable," Ryan said. "Tropicana has something like eight feet in the refrigerated section. People recognized it. They didn't trust [the new logo]."

Here's the offending logo, alongside the one that preceded it:

People don't like change. And when a logo or packaging for a favorite product changes, it creates trust issues. The package has changed and they wonder if what's inside has, too. The generic logo made people expect a generic product.

It's one of the reasons Yahoo has chosen to ease people in and experiment rather than up and change things without some preparation.