Absolute Proof That Design Drives Business Results

Stuart Elliot of the NY Times summed up the prevailing opinion of design when he once said to me,

Logo schmogo

Can a logo drive business results?  Absolutely.

There is one brand that saw a 20% change in their business within 7 weeks of changing their logo and packaging design.

Yes, that’s right, CHANGE IN LOGO RESULTS IN 20% CHANGE IN SALES IN 7 WEEKS.

Logo schmogo indeed!

There were no other changes during that time which would account for such a dramatic change in business performance — the product stayed the same, distribution the same, pricing the same.  Everything was the same except for the new logo on the package.

So what brand are we talking about?  Tropicana. In 7 Weeks sales plunged 20%

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — After a package redesign, sales of the Tropicana Pure Premium line plummeted 20% between Jan. 1 and Feb. 22, costing the brand tens of millions of dollars. On Feb. 23, the company announced it would bow to consumer demand and scrap the new packaging, designed by Peter Arnell.

I was reminded of this astonishing business result by the stories about Arnell Group finally closing its doors.

Peter Arnell made a very dangerous mistake.  He forgot the brand metaphor.  That orange with a straw is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. To paraphrase Anita Bryant, “An orange juice carton without a straw is like a morning without Tropicana.”

Is the glass half empty or half fully?

 

 

 

Great Metaphor

 

There’s a difference between beautiful design and brilliant design.  Peter went for beauty instead of brilliance.  And that probably contributed to the problems that led to the End of an Era: Omnicom’s Arnell Group to Close | Agency News – Advertising Age

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s a big difference between