Snapple Case Study

Snapple Case Study

1. Growth evolved to keep distributors occupied involving expansion into carbonated, iced teas, diet juices, seltzers. It was positioned to appeal to young health-conscious urban professionals. Really grew from mid 1980’s on.

They kept original distributors and instead of selling out as many of their alternative competitors did they hired professional management that used focus groups etc. The distribution system grew to predominately small family-owned distributors focused on mom and pop stores.

Snapple promotion based on offbeat quirky blend of public relations and advertising. Story of three founders vs multinational brands

2. Mishandled by Quaker. They were trying to push Snapple into a lifestyle category when it already had gained its traction and market share through a very specific kind of offbeat marketing. They might have also learned the wrong lessons from Gatorade which had a conceptual coherence as water does.

Snapple on the other hand is harder to classify and its appeal to consumers fluctuates. It’s difficult to develop associations with the brand other than “sensual” or refreshing but not replenishing. It functions on social reinforcement so the perception of popularity; but it’s not a group drink.

**They tried to converge two separate demographics ie quirky and offbeat vs lifestyle and failed to understand its brand identity, distribution patterns etc. Tried to imitate Gatorade success.

Tried to push Gatorade through snapple’s single serve cold channels while leveraging Gatorade’s distribution through warm channels. Product of growing volume at the cost of its niche brand identity. Alienated distributors – the brands were very much identified through their distribution channels.

Also mistake through introduction of larger Snapple bottles – larger pack sizes met limitations on their distributor trucks and retail display chase in cold channel

3. Triarc had significant experience in the beverage...