Product: The Snapple product line is vast and spans many different flavors, many of which were unpopular. Only a handful of flavors held the product afloat, this in effect was due to the premium pricing of the product. The product in itself was marketed with the accompanying mantra of “100% Natural” and proved to be quite popular among a very difficult to define market segment. Snapple was neither defined as a “lifestyle” brand or a “fashion” brand, it was somewhere in the middle, generally grouped in the “alternative” beverage category. At this point in the Snapple brands development, there were many other “boutique” beverage brands aspiring to appeal to the same market segment.
Price: Given the premium pricing of their product, the Snapple product was able to remain profitable, despite several flailing product flavors. The inflated pricing was a wise decision in the inception of the products development, pre-1987.
Promotion: What a successful mess! The promotion of Snapple was “100% Natural” and apparently appealed to many New Yorker’s and U.S. citizens alike. Their initial ad was flawed and was not easily recognizable to many people: “Schnapple”, by Ivan Lendl. When the brand began using Wendy Kaufman, a real person living a real life, as their spokes model the wildfire began nationwide. She made appearances on David Letterman and Oprah, and Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh became avid supporters of the beverage brand.
Place: This aspect of the Four P’s was particularly important in the Snapple case. The proximity to New York City proved beneficial in the marketing business aspect. Access to a plethora of media and celebrity exposure launched the beverage line into a league of national brand recognition ...