Snapple Bottles Wax Whimsical

The Snapple Beverage Group is adding more attention-getting elements to the brand's already offbeat selling efforts, reports the New York Times. A campaign beginning April 15 will present bottles of Snapple teas and juice drinks designed to look like Snapple drinkers in deliberately amateurish fashion.

The campaign, with a total budget of $40 million, is indicative of the steps deemed necessary to compete in the non-carb beverage category. "The beverage shelf is getting increasingly crowded," says Gary A. Hemphill, senior vice president. Beverage Marketing Corporation. "People have more choices than ever, so marketing is more important than ever."

Moderator Comment: Does Snapple have the resources to differentiate its brand in the marketplace and keep up its sales momentum?

Having survived the Quaker deal of a few years back, Snapple should be able to survive anything short of a global catastrophe. According to today's Washington Post, that should take least 878 years. The 1950 DA asteroid has a one in three hundred chance to do an "Armageddon" on us in the year 2880 according to the article. [George Anderson - Moderator]

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