From 1972 to 1993, why did Snapple flourish when so many small start-up

premium fruit drinks stayed small or disappeared?

Following were the reasons why Snapple flourished from 1972 to 1993.
1. Snapples broadening the product line to a variety of flavors including carbonated
drinks, ice-teas, diet juices, seltzers etc.
a. It kept the distributors occupied with the products of Snapple.
b. While some products succeeded and other failed, the losses were
recovered by pricing high on the successful products.
2. Many entrepreneurial founders were themselves planning to exit via acquisition.
However, Snapple founders decided grow further.
a. They hired professionals of high repute for management.
b. Gilman who was running sales and marketing improved label design and
increased advertising budget. He also intensified independent distributer
system.
3. Snapples promotion was focused on public relations and advertising both.
a. Wendy Kaufman was introduced as a spokes-model for the brand. She
appeared on TV shows and made appearances at retail stores. She
created in the consumers a sense of association with the brand and
reinforced the brand image.
b. Brand sponsored radio programs of Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh
were launched. As a result the brand received on-air endorsement.
c. 100% Natural was introduced as brand advertising line. The philosophy
behind this that everything should be real enhanced the consumers trust.
d. Snapple invited consumers to a Snapple convention. They would
participate in Snapple themed fun, games and fashion shows.
As a result the company succeeded in achieving brand recognition,
establishing brand image and connecting strongly with the consumers.
4. Snapple entered into different market segments with an established brand name
which minimized introductory marketing expenses.

Now look at the period from 1994 to 1997. Did Quaker make an error in buying
Snapple or did they just manage it badly?

The fact that Snapples sales were running at $674 million per year when Quaker
acquired it for $1.7 billion proves that buying Snapple was certainly not an error. In fact,
Snapple was expected to benefit from Quakers experience and capabilities. However,
the brand proved harder to manage than Quaker had expected and in 1997 it was sold
for only a fraction of the acquisition amount.
Following are reasons why the sales degraded to 440$ million in 1997.

1. The two brands Snapple and Gatorade had different identities. Gatorade was
lifestyle and Snapple was fashion. Quaker still assumed that successful
marketing and distribution of Gatorade could be applied to Snapple. The brand
portfolio was not properly managed.
2. Termination of Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh and Wendy Kaufman affected the
advertisement and created a sense of alienation among the consumers. As a
result Snapple lacked the compelling reason for use which it possessed earlier.
3. Quakers inability to rationalize distribution of Gatorade and Snapple proved fatal.
Quaker sought to eliminate the expenses of middlemen (distributers) by shipping
directly from factory to supermarket. It proposed to the distributors to cede their
supermarket Snapples accounts to Quaker in exchange of distributing Gatorade
to their remaining accounts. However, the distributers did not agree to cede their
Snapple accounts.
4. Introduction of Snapple in larger pack sizes and in greater assortments illustrated
Quakers low understanding of consumers, retailers and distributors. It resulted in
the following:
a. Limitation on distributor trucks and retail display space.
b. Snapple appeared less utilitarian to consumers than Gatorade did. While
the large pack sizes of Snapple didnt attract consumers, the large pack
sizes of Gatorade made sense because thirsty people would drink it for
rehydration.
5. The consumers felt betrayed once the company was sold out as it had strongly
connected with them before.

Roll forward to 1998. What can Triarc's managers learn from Quaker's
experience? What can they apply from their own experience?

From the failure of Quaker, Triarcs managers can lean the following.
1. Understand the brands identity and spirit in its true sense. Not to confuse
Snapple with any other brand.
2. Apply marketing tactic pertinent to Snapple only and avoid implementing the
success strategies of other brands to Snapple.
3. Learn that without cold channel distributors, the product would not stand a
chance of success.
4. Understand the psyche and wishes of people and their reason of attachment with
the product.

What three things would you start doing tomorrow if you were in Mike Weinstein's
shoes? Justify them.

1. Bring Windy back and launch a new TV commercial featuring Windy to signal
that the new regime understands what had made Snapple a hit in the first place.
2. Change the way distribution was done by Quaker and bring the cold channel
distributers again into loop as the product would not stand a chance without
them.
3. Change the packing size of Snapple back to regular. The experience of Quaker

and the research of Deutsch both proves the fact that introducing Snapple in
larger size had detrimental effect.