- Kenneth Hein

The idea: To generate attention for the leading refrigerated orange juice brand, Tropicana decided to take a blank gable-top carton and start over. "It was about refreshing and modernizing," said Tropicana president Neil Campbell. "The entire orange juice category has been in decline for some time. We wanted to create an emotional attachment by 'heroing' the juice and trumpeting the natural fruit goodness."

The challenge: About half of consumers think there is added sugar in orange juice. Tropicana needed to change that perception. The fact that the juice is pure, natural and 100 percent squeezed from fresh oranges needed to be conveyed.

How it was created: The design team decided to take full advantage of all of the dimensions of the packaging. A picture of a glass of orange juice spans across the oblique corner of the carton. The idea was to create some perspective on that corner so it is not sharp or angular, said Peter Arnell, head of the Arnell Group, which spearheaded the redesign. "It's like having a glass come to your table. It's very elegant. We no longer wanted to work with assets or parts that were not clear to the consumer. They might have identified with the orange and the straw on the old packaging but no one knew why it was there."

What it says and why: The team was instructed to use "Obama-esque design language that was clear, simple and profound," said Arnell. This meant placing the words: "100% orange—pure & natural" front and center. "The joke around the office about our friends in Atlanta and their notion of 'simply' [was] we trademarked '100% orange,' which absolutely nails the competition on the shelf," said Arnell of Coca-Cola's Simply Orange brand.

What's next?: The brand is in the manufacturing development stage of creating a new 89-oz. carafe that will replace the existing white jugs.

The results: While much of the new packaging is still hitting shelves, the media has taken note, said Arnell. "No one would ever write an article about Tropicana. Then you get rid of the orange and the straw and the whole world pays attention."