From faint idea to category killer

Background

• Grace, Kennedy, the most dynamic conglomerate in the Caribbean, was searching for new product ideas to boost the profitability of its ailing foods division.
  
  
• The single-serve juice category had enormous potential, not only in the home market, but also worldwide, driven by growing consumer demand for convenience and healthier juice drinks.
  
  
• V8 Splash, owned by Campbell Soup, dominated the
  Caribbean market.

Diagnosis

• V8 held a commanding market share, but did not “own” the single-serve juice market. Consumers were open to considering other brands, particularly from companies they trusted and/or offered healthy options with natural ingredients (and a high % of real fruit juice).
  
  
• Grace had an entry in the ready-to-drink juice category, Grace Juices, in large family size bottles and cans. Therefore, the company had juice category experience, brand credibility, the capabilities, and infrastructure
  to enter the single-serve juice market—all that was missing was a product entry.

Strategic Research

• Grace initiated a series of qualitative and quantitative studies to expose consumers in Grace’s Caribbean markets to new product concepts including a single-serve juice. Potential positioning opportunities for each concept were identified.
  
  
• From this study, a single-serve juice emerged as the most promising concept. Grace conducted taste tests on new flavors and measured positioning “fit” between the new product and the Grace brand.
  
  
• Concept and taste testing subsequently were conducted in export markets to assess international opportunities for the new product followed by simulated test marketing.

Strategic Options

• Focus on the current products line-up and back-burner new product development
  
  
• Extend an existing line, building on the awareness, consumer familiarity, and equity of an already established brand.
  
  
• Enter the single-serve juice market with a new offering, something dramatically superior to current entrants in the category.

Strategic Choice

• Grace followed the data and built the single-serve juice concept it had tested into the Tropical Rhythms brand with Copernicus providing targeting, positioning, and advertising consulting.
  
  
• The original concept tested was Grace Juice in single-serve containers, but with new exotic, and tropical flavors. Particularly among key target segments, trial and repeat scores were significantly higher than the
  average new beverage product.
  
  
• Based on the positive reactions to the concept, Grace created a new brand, “Tropical Rhythms,” to address needs customers indicated they had for a single-serve juice: healthy, thirst-quenching with genuine fruit
  taste.

Performance Results

• Tropical Rhythms exceeded “even our most optimistic projections,” according to Grace. It quickly became the Caribbean market leader, with a 50% share—cutting V8 Splash’s share in half—and helped propel the Foods Division out of the red and into the black.
  
  
• Only a year after its introduction in export markets, year-to-date international sales were up by 114%.
  
  
• Tropical Rhythms was awarded both the Caribbean Innovative Product Award from Caribbean World Magazine and the Canadian Grand Prix New Product Award.