ORIGIN OF SNAPPLE

Arnie Greenberg, Leonard Marsh and Hyman Golden

went into business selling all-natural apple juice to
health food stores in Greenwich village, in 1972.
Business grew using internally generated funds. It built a
strong network of distributors across New York City.
Expansion of distribution lead to a turnover of $4 million
in 1984 and $8 million in 1986.
Brand was strongly connected with consumers as it had
done things differently, less competition in this category
helped Snapple to grow at a faster pace

Timeline
1972 - Snapple was founded by Leonard Marsh, Hyman
Golden, and Arnold Greenberg in New York.
1986 Revenue reached $8 million. The brand had a
strong presence and enduring appeal in the United
States
1990 - Snapple emerged as a nationally recognized
brand in the beverage industry.
1994 - Quaker purchased Snapple for $1.7 billion.
1997 - Quaker sells Snapple to Triarc group at $300
million, a loss of $1.4 billion over 4 years.

Brand Promotion
The success story of the brand was so exemplary that it created a
buzz and was discussed in many media
Carl Gilman an experienced professional from Beverage Industry was
hired to run sales and marketing
Under his supervision, advertising budget was increased to $1 million
& the distribution system was intensified
The advertising agency Kirshenbaum, Bond & Partners adopted the
100% Natural as their main advertising mantra and even aired the
events that really happened.
Wendy Kaufman was appointed as the spokesperson and was a
success
Established as a FASHION BRAND

Strategies of Quaker
Result: Decline in sales.
Distributors did not agree to cede rights to
Snapples supermarket accounts.
Snapple failed to make bigger presence in
Tried to market Gatorade and Snapple
the supermarkets and remained confined
complementarily, with simultaneous
to cold channels.
movement of Gatorade in the cold
Termination of contracts with Howard
channel & Snapple in the warm
Stern & Wendy Kaufman led to growing
channel.
unpopularity amongst general consumers
Cut down costs on advertising and
and even provoked negative publicity
severed media relations.
from Stern.
Introduced Snapple in larger container Attempt to complement marketing
sizes.
schemes between Gatorade and Snapple
Tried to convince distributors to give up
hand-in-hand resulted in unwarranted
Snapples supermarket accounts to
competition between these two brands,
Quaker in exchange for right to
wherein Gatorade emerged to be the
distribute Gatorade to the rest of their

Following the huge success with

Gatorade, they tried to repeat similar
marketing strategies with Snapple.

Decline
Snapple sales declined from $674
million in 1994, to approx $600
million in 1995 to $500 million in
1996 to $440 million in 1997.
Despite the decline it maintained
number 1 position in 1995
because of its premium pricing
policy.
Sales dropped by 20% per
quarter.

Cultural Image of Snapple

Associates with natural, real, personal, diversity, inclusiveness, variety, individualism, anti authority and irreverence
It is neither cola nor a usual drink like water

water
should drink
good for you
empty
tasteless/ Dull

Snapple
want to drink it
fun
full
vivid sensory experience

It is seen as sensual, engaging and not something to do as autopilot in experiential terms

The packaging plays out the taste experience
It is termed as Not a childs drink but not middle aged either
The consumers have youthful and outdoor attitude
Intensity of its use is closely correlated with social presence. Drinking flows through friendship network but not shared
among the companion
Fashion sensitive and quirky brand as compare to other brands
Following are few points that indicates about the characteristics of Snapple
Authentic as Fruit is healthy, Snapple is fruity, so Snapple is healthy
Fun as It is informal, natural, personal and playful
Personal as so much variety, you can find yourself within the brand
Vividly sensual as Luxury today is redefined

Options for Snapple (TriArc)

Brand Extension into
Bottled water
Chocolate beverages
Sports Drinks

Avoid brand extension and work on revitalizing the

brand

Bottled Water
Cons

Pros

Can leverage on the

existing cold chain
distribution
capabilities
Bottled water holds a
significant share
(19%) of alternative
beverage category
market
It can go well with the
all natural proposition

Water might not go well Snapples brand as a

fun, sensual and quirky brand personality that
Snapple enjoys

Water needs to be sold as a sub brand which

lead to separate brand advertising costs

Should be in the premium water segment as

Snapple is a premium brand (this can bring out
new difficulties of its own like comparison with
Evian which is seen as a boring, elitist brand)

Chocolate Beverages
Pros

Easy to move into chocolate based drinks, no

major player at the time

Could be the Great attractor that revitalizes

the brand

Continue to be sold along the lines of a

whimsical drink

Can leverage existing cold distribution

Cons

Would not fit with the healthy proposition that

Snapple offers

Chocolate milk would require substantial

investment in new facilities

Chocolate drinks are

Sports Drink
Pros

Cons

It would have caffeine/salts and sugar which

will not go well with the natural proposition of
Snapple

Growing market

Strong incumbents like Mountain Dew,

Gatorade

Selling it as a premium brand would be taking

Gatorade head on. Selling it in the low price
segment would be a conflict with the premium
Snapple brand

Option 4 (do nothing in brand

extension)
Revamp existing distribution model (go back to mom
and pop distribution network)
Periodic changes in flavours to maintain the quirkiness
of the brand
Increased engagement with customers

Recommendations
Product
SKUs Only one time use servings (16 oz bottles) only in Glass bottles.
In Supermarkets, six packs (of single flavor) would be served along with 1 time use servings
Constant addition and deletion of products (flavours) to maintain the quirkiness of the brand Product Sampling and
market acceptance to be tested using the army of independent distributors

Promotion
Advertisements focusing on the All Natural feature of Snapple
Hiring Wendy Kaufman as brand ambassador again
Coolers to be placed in schools and a campaign to be launched where School students will be asked to collect and send
a certain number of Snapple caps for quirky and exciting prizes
Campus Ambassadors for colleges to get good visibility in shops in and around colleges

Place
Revamping the current distribution model and bringing back independent distributors

Changing Brand Elements

Cover design (packaging label) to emphasize on All Natural part
Transparent bottles (only believe what you see)
Apart from Wendy Kaufman, other celebrity endorsements could be the likes of Home Alone family (a movie where the
characters were quirky and relatable), product placements in TV shows etc