Snapple Case Analysis
Snapple Case Analysis
In 1972, Snapple had a modest beginning in Brooklyn, New York. Initially, Snapple beverages were sold to health-food stores and Snapple became successful by launching innovative products, based on fruit juices and teas, into the beverage market. Snapple was a brash newcomer which won over New Yorkers and soon the rest of the US. Homemade freshness and endearing amateurism was a part of the Snapple brand. Some brands just want to have fun and from birth Snapple was one of them. In 1992, Boston-based Thomas H. Lee Co. purchased Snapple from the original owners for $27.9 million. Snapple's distribution channels and promotion were unconventional and it had very little supermarket coverage. Instead, it flowed through the so-called cold channel: small distributors serving hundreds of thousands of lunch counters and delis, which sold single-serving refrigerated beverages consumed on the premises. Small distributors were, they aggregated into a mighty marketing force.
Quaker CEO William D. Smithburg had bought Stokely-Van Camp in 1983, mainly for its Gatorade, then a $90 million sports drink. Even though he drew criticism, Smithburg turned Gatorade into a billion dollar brand. Quaker Oats bought Snapple in 1993 for an extravagant $1.7 billion dollars even though industry leaders thought it was only worth $700 million. Smithburg's strategy was to use the strength of Snapple's distributors in the cold channel to help Gatorade and use Gatorade's strength in the supermarkets to help Snapple. Quaker executives hoped that Snapple would provide the same type of benefits as their highly successful Gatorade brand had done in previous years. They expected to achieve these benefits by applying the marketing expertise used for Gatorade, but they failed to understand some important differences in the markets, distribution channels, and customer attitudes for the two types of beverages. The Quaker executives planned to market Snapple in the
In 1972, Snapple had a modest beginning in Brooklyn, New York. Initially, Snapple beverages were sold to health-food stores and Snapple became successful by launching innovative products, based on fruit juices and teas, into the beverage market. Snapple was a brash newcomer which won over New Yorkers and soon the rest of the US. Homemade freshness and endearing amateurism was a part of the Snapple brand. Some brands just want to have fun and from birth Snapple was one of them. In 1992, Boston-based Thomas H. Lee Co. purchased Snapple from the original owners for $27.9 million. Snapple's distribution channels and promotion were unconventional and it had very little supermarket coverage. Instead, it flowed through the so-called cold channel: small distributors serving hundreds of thousands of lunch counters and delis, which sold single-serving refrigerated beverages consumed on the premises. Small distributors were, they aggregated into a mighty marketing force.
Quaker CEO William D. Smithburg had bought Stokely-Van Camp in 1983, mainly for its Gatorade, then a $90 million sports drink. Even though he drew criticism, Smithburg turned Gatorade into a billion dollar brand. Quaker Oats bought Snapple in 1993 for an extravagant $1.7 billion dollars even though industry leaders thought it was only worth $700 million. Smithburg's strategy was to use the strength of Snapple's distributors in the cold channel to help Gatorade and use Gatorade's strength in the supermarkets to help Snapple. Quaker executives hoped that Snapple would provide the same type of benefits as their highly successful Gatorade brand had done in previous years. They expected to achieve these benefits by applying the marketing expertise used for Gatorade, but they failed to understand some important differences in the markets, distribution channels, and customer attitudes for the two types of beverages. The Quaker executives planned to market Snapple in the