Knowing & owning your brand’s DNA: Ribena NPD

Strategy. Naming. Innovation.

There’s been heated LinkedIn debates on Ribena’s latest foray into ‘botanical’ fruit cordials, focusing in the main on whether without the iconic Ribena brand roundel, this new genteel addition to the Ribena stable really carries a distinctive brand visual and verbal DNA in its new expression. Much was made on LinkedIn of removing the Ribena name in an act of cunning photoshop with a brand equivalent game of ‘Guess who’ then ensuing. I was an early viewer of the discussion so did not see if any brand sleuth connected Ribena’s Splendid White Peach & Hibiscus Botanical Fruit Cordial with its parent brand, but I suspect only a diehard Ribena drinker or a Google short cut would have reached this conclusion.

 While I agree that the new pastel livery and sedate English country garden cues and colourways did not ooze Ribena’s classic big, simple, bold, and proudly berry-centric look, I feel this (possibly one step too far?) brand extension has detached itself from the mothership in more than just visual terms.

Beyond the clear need for a design ‘red thread’ back to Ribena brand (widely agreed on LinkedIn), this extension seems to have failed to respect both Ribena’s tone of voice as well as neglecting its distinctive ‘flavour DNA’. Both these oversights, for me, mean it is not only disorientingly distanced from its iconic family look but also in danger of presenting as the Hyacinth Bucket of the Ribena family. Does Ribena need to use White Peach to offer something new? And does it really need Hibiscus too? And, more importantly, where is the fulsome, juicy, rounded, simple pleasure of the classic Ribena palate in this?

Now onto naming. Brands that really know themselves extend with a very strong sense of their voice, their language, how they would make themselves known. It’s a truly distinguishing factor for some of the most enduringly distinctive brands in food and drink (Pieminister, The Collective, Gü, Brewdog, to name some much-hallowed heroes). Does Ribena really need to inveigle itself into the Jeeves & Wooster world of ‘splendid’ or ‘glorious’ cordials? True, classic and British, just like Ribena, but lacking the ‘brand next door’ accessible honesty in its roots. Tellingly, early LinkedIn guesses on the possible brand creator steered towards Fever Tree and Belvoir. So, while bang on the money for premium cordial, a potential own goal when it comes to competitor differentiation.

Now, crucially, onto flavour combinations. I believe this is as much part of the hard wiring of a brand as its visual identity and it’s even more vital to respect this part of a brand’s DNA in the overcrowded CPG world. New flavour combinations have the power to seduce, entice, make people feel adventurous and inspired – all very relevant traits in these Lockdown days of in home exploration and trial. But, while I’m sure the flavours tested well with consumers – I wonder how much the developers have understood whether this is a brand-ownable flavour mix that either will broaden loyalists’ repertoires or bring in newcomers to the brand.

I’ve worked on flavour extension strategy for some big flavour hitters in CPG – from Bulmers, to Onken, Rubicon to McCoys – and one thing’s for sure, consumers know what feels right in flavour terms for a brand, and they also know what’s too much too. A consumer’s discovery mindset when considering a new Belvoir extension would, I’d wager, lend itself to something more ‘artisan’ or ‘complex’ than their radar for Ribena. I’d guess that Ribena’s in the same ‘big, bold and honest’ camp as flavour giants Bulmers or Yeo Valley – where the flavour exploration ‘ratio’ is probably more typically 80% known flavour to 20% ‘discovery or twist’ – and the brand flavour narrative is simple, unaffected, using humour over pretension – certainly not posh or artisanal.

Time will tell if this extension marches off the shelves, especially as we hunker down into the autumn Lockdown gloom. I wish the brand well but I do think it needs to believe it can extend and delight its audience’s palate without needing to take on airs and graces and affect this genteel persona that is already very well (and credibly) covered in this aisle.

Image credit: allthingsnew