What About The Research?

Last week I wrote about the Tropicana package massacre.

The question I would love to have the answer to is this: What about the research?

I've been around Pepsi people (the owners of Tropicana) and their kind, and I can assure you they don't wipe themselves without first researching which hand consumers prefer.

Somewhere, I guarantee you, there is a very big deck that demonstrates conclusively that the dearly departed Tropicana package was a dream come true.

I wonder if anyone is going to hold the research firm accountable? (That was a rhetorical question. Research firms are never held to account for the stuff they generate.)

Or I wonder if the research was done in-house by the agency? (My guess? Yes. That way they can control the process and be certain of a beneficial outcome.)

I wonder when the marketing community is going to realize that they can get an equally reliable prediction of the success of creative endeavors, at far lower cost, by flipping a coin.

I'd love to see that Tropicana research deck. I'll bet it's a classic.

I forgot to thank Bonnie Miguel for the lovely graph last week. It was the only part of the post anyone liked. Also David Popino for the Fritter page yesterday.