Is Innocent about to loose its way?

There are a couple of early warning sighs on the Innocent brand that make me worry they are about to loose their way. I posted a couple of weeks ago on the problem of brands being "hot, then not". I do hope this is not the case with Innocent, as its one of my favourite brands, and I truly admire what they have built.

Warning sign number 1: the re-launch of their Innocent Juicy Water range as "This Water".
According to Marketing magazine, this is Innocent's attempt to enter "the functional soft-drinks market with a series of water products containing added vitamins and minerals". Mmmm. Innocent's success has been about selling "tasty little drinks" that were packed with natural goodies and, as the name suggests, nothing added. The tag-line is "Nothing but nothing but fruit". Doesn't a fortified range of drinks sounds un-innocent? And sort of scientific.

Also, This Water is a new brand, with weak Innocent endorsement ("From the people at Innocent"). It seem that this is because the brand owners feel the product doesn't fit Innocent's fruit-based equity, and so they want to distance it from the core. But then, why do it!? And while we're on the issue of naming/branding, isn't "This Water" a bit of crap name?

The only thing Innocent Juicy Water had going for it was the link to the Innocent brand...now this has been taken away, and they have to launch a whole new brand into the highly competitive water market. And now they have a brand portfolio to manage, and what relationship the This Water brand has with the core mother brand blah blah blah... I can just see the Powerpoint charts now. This is unwanted distraction from growing the core business.

Warning sign number 2: sales over £100 million.
The Innocent brand is now seriously big, with 2006 sales of £96million, up 140%. The chances are that Richard Reed and the other founding directors of the brand have got their hands more than full with managing this growth. We need a bigger office. We need a new IT system. We need to hire a team to do the German launch. And on the list of management tasks goes. The result is that they have to hire a new team of people to do the most important stuff: brand development and innovation.

Brand leaders stepping back is one thing. But the real risk for the brand is of course the sell-out. And with sales heading North of $200 million, you have to wonder if the sell-out of Innocent is months rather than years away. Pepsi has bought PJ Smoothies in the UK, and Coke snapped up the US version of Innocent, Odwalla a few years ago. Indeed, my money goes on Coke to be the one who swallows Innocent. If this does happen, then there is a real risk that a brand that was hot, will suddenly be not.

I do genuinely hope I'm wrong, as I love the Innocent brand both as a consumer and a branding bloke. What do you think?

Comments

[Shabazz]

Paul, would expect nnthiog less poignant from you and nice to see your interest in the industry hasn't waned one bit since leaving Wine Australia. Industry certainly needs a different 2025 vision/industry leading document, perhaps a 2050 one that outlines a vision for being one if the greatest wine producing countries in the world in terms of quality NOT in terms if mass production//volume growth. That marketing document would be well served with the tact you've unveiled here. I'm confident Australia will get the recognition it deserves, but it will take a different way of thinking, confidence and a new way of executing marketing plans by its leaders. I think the world is ready to see the real Australia.

[RezQyu]

andre9 / Ne3o concordo com a credtica. Acho a tirapgofia muito bem resolvida. Conversa MUITO com o sedmbolo e tem personalidade.As curvas, a forma orge2nica, o conceito de unie3o pelo fato de ser cursiva e ter os tipos ligados enfim Ne3o acho necesse1rio um destaque ao nome Rio , seria um elemento a mais, muita coisa acontecendo ao mesmo tempo. Pontua muito bem e amarra bem a marca a assinatura da forma que esta.

[Ezzef]

Jaci Borreau / Nenhum! Todos! Basta citar, hoje em dia o discurso se perde no eecssxo de detalhes, ou para demonstrar todo seu conhecimento verdadeiro ou para tentar faze-lo. Na bucha, ao vivo, reconhee7o, com tempo de buscar o rebuscamento, dfavido, daed e9 melhor citar a fonte.Coisa que se poderia te feito. Dfavido que um bom designer n4ao tenha tomado conhecimento do problema com a cf3pia da logo do carnaval baiano.Aquele dilema foi publicado e comentado.

[Kim]

Clei Vieira / Uma marca de extremo bom gosto, linda, exuanrbete, uma imagem bem representativa do Rio e do nosso pais que vive tempos de alegria e prosperidade. Parabens pela criae7e3o deu pra sentir a emoe7e3o de todos os profissionais envolvidos neste belo trabalho.Sou arquiteto e estou comee7ando a fazer alguns trabalhos e gostaria de saber como consigo material sobre a marca, se e9 possedvel comprar o material fedsico e digital.Obrigado por darem ao Rio e ao Brasil esta belezura

[Christoph]

Posted on Bandagi is my favorite its rlleay heart touching and mature poetry, but needs more and more depth, be a man of depth poetry not superfical, as poetry is the sea without any measurement so u must go indepth, it will give u real taste and norish of music. Mr. Naveen send me ur email id i wanna send u one song that you must compile it and sign it, but you will never disclose my name this song will be on ur own name ok. thanks

[Rocking]

aziz Posted on hi i m in uk and mostly laucnh on hunzamusic.tk all the stuff here is of in terms of poetic standards excepts ginans is very low. however i appreciate the effort u guyz have mada plz include old songs of abbas hunzai sherbaz and ginanz of hashim etc so u could pass on to the coming generation the rich cultural that has been kept alive by our ancesstors

[Anya]

writer, Marissa McNaughton, wrote on a collaborative study done by Facebook and comScore tietld The Power of Like, Impressions on Starbucks, Southwest Airlines and Bing. Each company was studied to see the impact

[toenail fungus]

sometimes I lay under the moon and thank God I'm breathing then I pray don't take me soon cause I am here for a reason sometimes in my tears I drown but I never let it get me down
so when negativity surrounds I know some day it'll all turn around

[Sueli]

/ April 7, 2010, 9:41 AMGood intro to Sound Branding! I would add a crucial task which slouhd be mandatory for every Sound Branding element: brand fit or I would even say: brand expression! Only when a Sound Branding element expresses the values and emotions of the brand it fulfills its task to build up brand equity. As Sound Branding has become more and more popular low profile Sound Elements are created (I would not even call them Branding Elements). Another point not to miss is neuro marketing. In our blog (www.soundbrandingblog.wordpress.com) we discuss the issue of: Why do some Sound Branding elements work some don't? Does neuroscience gives us the answer? Feel free to comment. Karlheinz Illner

[Dress Shoes]

This looks gorgeous, remember having it in Barcelona and loving it! I'm so glad you tried it out. I was thinking about this recipe just the other day, I have to do it again soon.
I made this yesterday and it was yum! Thank you.

[mens lacoste shoes]

"The McDonald's deal is a fantastic opportunity for a drinks company in the big league, but to make the most of it commercially, Innocent has to grow up.This should be a rite of passage for them but they must stop relying so heavily on a brand voice which speaks to a small group of consumers"

[Coach Outlet]

the one Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.

[viagra online]

Paella always make me think of speey gonzalez for some reason!!! Andale andale ariba!! This looks gorgeous, remember having it in Barcelona and loving it! I'm so glad you tried it out. I was thinking about this recipe just the other day, I have to do it again soon.
I made this yesterday and it was yum! Thank you.

[buy generic viagra]

Mmmm. Innocent's success has been about selling "tasty little drinks" that were packed with natural goodies and, as the name suggests, nothing added.

[generic viagra]

Last time I looked, Innocent was a £100 million brand, helped in no small measure by that distinctive brand voice.

[Erectile Dysfunction]

Is important to hire a development team to implement innovative new marketing techniques.

[World Series of Poker]

Any marketing strategy is innocent! Please guys...

[Nail Fungus]

I've always been curious of how to include in a bottle of mineral water or artificial vitamins

[Chris]

I think you mean "lose"

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/loose

[Cotters Karoo]

I agree entirely - the brand is so strongly anchored to the "nothing taken out, nothing put in" ethos that it seems an odd strategy to literally dilute the brand by watering it down to extend ('scuse the pun) into other market segments,

[Rebecca]

Hi, another genuine innocent fan here too... but I had similar thoughts when I saw 'This Water' I dont understand why they have done this - shaking off their strong brand and moving away from their strong brand values?? Watering themselves down I wonder?

[David Taylor (brandgym)]

Dan, What an honour to have the creative genius behind the absolutely, totally brilliant innocent brand on the little old sausage blog. You and the rest of the team indeed have every reason to be chuffed to bits with what you have achieved.

My concerns were those of a genuine innocent fan...and yes, I'd love a chat over a cuppa to get your views, and then I'll write em up.

David

[dan at innocent]

Hello. My name is Dan. I write stuff at innocent. I don't think we're losing our way, and I'm really proud of the way that we've grown over the years. If you ever want to pop in for a cup of tea and fancy seeing for yourself how we're doing, I'd be more than happy to put the kettle on.

[David Taylor (brandgym)]

Couldn't have put it better myself sir.

"Stop relying so heavily on a brand voice which speaks to a small group of consumers" eh? Last time I looked, Innocent was a £100 million brand, helped in no small measure by that distinctive brand voice.

More Wolf Ollins-ese to add to the pink swastika debacle of London 2012...

[Fergus]

...and warning sign number 3, their tie up with McDonalds which seems like a very long way removed from their brand values. I read this from a Wolff Olins brand expert who clearly doesn't hold the same view...

"The McDonald's deal is a fantastic opportunity for a drinks company in the big league, but to make the most of it commercially, Innocent has to grow up.This should be a rite of passage for them but they must stop relying so heavily on a brand voice which speaks to a small group of consumers"

What utter bollocks!