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Strategies & Market Trends : Roger's 1998 Short Picks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mark L. who wrote (18252)	6/18/1999 12:32:00 PM
From: Gerald Walls	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 18691

There is such a thing as branded premium ice tea. We proved that, and then Arizona Iced Tea proved it again. IMVHO, what made Snapple famous was the very wise decision to advertise on The Rush Limbaugh Show. As far as Arizona Iced Tea goes, I'll never bother to try it. It's not even made out here. From what I understand it's made in New York City. I guess that New York City Iced Tea didn't provide them the image they wanted so they borrowed someplace else's. I do agree that you can give anything a brand premium with enough advertising. Look at Naive bottled water. Sorry, that's Evian. I accidently reversed the name.

To: Mark L. who wrote (18252)	6/18/1999 1:42:00 PM
From: BelowTheCrowd	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18691

Mark, Quaker took a product they didn't understand (premium ice tea), which was sold through a channel which was not their main focus (small, urban stores selling individual bottles) and heavily promoted through a medium which they believed was inappropriate to their corporate image and the "values" of "their" customers (The Howard Stern Show). So guess what happened? They tried to leverage the brand into a zillion different types of drinks, a move that never really paid off. They dumped the small urban sellers of "ready to drink" single bottles in favor of supermarkets. In the process they alienated their core "yuppie" client base, but failed to sell the premium-priced product to suburban families. Howard Stern spent much of the next 3 years telling his 20 million listeners all the reasons why they SHOULDN'T buy Snapple and promoting alternatives instead. Made zero sense from start to finish. Revealed how insulated Quaker Oats was from the natural market for the product they were trying to sell. mg

To: Mark L. who wrote (18252)	6/18/1999 10:24:00 PM
From: BDR	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18691

<There is such a thing as branded premium ice tea. We proved that, and then Arizona Iced Tea proved it again.> Ahh, spoken like someone from marketing. What you proved is that you can create a brand for iced tea. What I said was, "There is no such thing as "premium" iced tea." I still maintain that there is no such thing, though advertising hype may be able to create the perception among the suggestible. Actually I didn't mean to turn this into the Quaker Oats discussion thread. Anybody have an opinion about LWR?