Let’s get this out of the way right up front. A contract is a contract. When Snapple bought Dr. Pepper, the folks in Dublin, Texas weren’t supposed to sell their special concoction, sweetened with pure cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, beyond a six-county territory within 40 miles of the plant. And they weren’t supposed to add “Dublin” to the Dr. Pepper trademark. I preach from my soapbox a lot about maintaining the integrity of the brand, so I see Snapple’s point of view. Looks like the contract was violated on both counts. With the resolution to the dispute announced on Jan. 11, everyone’s supposed to move on.
Problem. Branding problem. Big branding problem.
Consumers have taken control of Snapple’s brand and rubbed their noses in the mess. According to Bud Kennedy at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Bonnell’s will no longer serve the brand formerly known as Dublin Dr. Pepper, even though the same product will still be available sans the Dublin moniker. Other establishments are following suit. Consumers are protesting with their taste buds as well, vowing to boycott not just Dr. Pepper but all Snapple products. That includes Snapple, 7UP, Mott’s, Canada Dry, A&W Root Bear, Clamato, Country Time, Orange Crush, Deja Blue, Diet Rite, Hawaiian Punch, Hires, Margaritaville, and more. (They may have to work real hard to avoid all Snapple products.) I’d say what we have here is a tarnished brand.
If we could re-wind that tape, there are a few branding principles I’d want Snapple to understand about the Dublin Dr. Pepper phenomenon.
First, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group should understand that Dublin DP was about so much more than a soft drink, more than a trademark. It had the hearts and minds of loyal imbibers that went beyond mere taste. Let’s look at some of the attributes of the brand.
Mystique: A positive aura surrounded the Dublin Dr. Pepper name. The little bitty bottling plant managed to stick to its guns, refusing to bow to the cheaper, less tasty god of high fructose corn syrup. It’s a David and Goliath story. We like the little guy with the little slingshot and the little pebble. Do you get that, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group?
Nostalgia: The Dublin folks continued to use the old bottles we baby boomers grew up with. How fun it was to sip your DP from a faded 10-2-4 container! (Remember when they got you to drink more by saying you needed a picker-upper three times a day?) A day trip to Dublin to pick up a case or two enhanced the experience as you drove through the Texas countryside to reach your destination. And if you didn’t grow up pouring a pack of salted Planter’s peanuts into your DP, well, you’ve missed something. Maybe it’s an acquired taste, but it’s a memory I cherish. Snapple, did you ever bother to understand that memories were part of the brand?
Exclusivity: You couldn’t find Dublin Dr. Pepper just anywhere. Even when the small town bottlers wrongly went beyond the 40-mile circumference that defined their distribution territory, it was still something you had to hunt down with a purpose. That’s why we made pilgrimages down Highway 67 to get our own stash. Inconvenient? Sure. But it’s part of the experience. What kind of experience will you provide your customers, Mr. Snapple?
So if the former Dublin Dr. Pepper brand enjoyed mystique, nostalgia and exclusivity as important brand attributes, what brand attributes are now identified with Snapple, the “winner” of this dispute? How about “bully?” How about “clueless?” Remember, the consumer is the one who has the final say on what your brand is about.
Understanding the loyalty of Dublin Dr. Pepper fans early on in negotiations could have led to a very different outcome. Being known as the corporate giant who obliterated 14 highly valued jobs at a tiny bottling plant in a small rural community does not win friends. I doubt that Snapple will suffer much from the debacle, but Texans have a long memory, and the corporate giant will need to be working on damage control for some time to come. I’m thinking, Mr. Snapple, you didn’t really win.
You pretty well nailed the situation and the “real” Texan’s take on the scenario. I’m not much into packaged drinks of any kind but the Dublin DP experience was unique. When you drank a bottle it was about history & nostalgia, places you remember and even places imagined that you wish were your own real memories.
Snapple, on the other hand,had made the experience into one of loss, of something that was once wonderful and exciting having been taken away. Exit Father Christmas, enter Wal-Mark and Big Lots. Snapple’s version of “Dublin Dr. Pepper” will forever be a tainted ersatz, regardless of how it tastes. And that taint will inevitably leak into their others brands.
By the way, thanks for the list of Snapple brands – the unpleasant leakage is already happening for me. There will be no official product boycott by yours truly. I just don’t like the smell they have associated with what they sell so I have even less attraction to them now.
Full disclosure, Mike. I don’t drink soft drinks any more either. But there’s a piece of my heart that loves the Dublin Dr. Pepper brand, for all the reasons aforementioned. When I succumbed to a soft drink for a rare indulgence, Dublin Dr. Pepper was always the beverage of choice. Aaaaaah! Thanks for joining with me in the mourning.
Aside from being so many great & wonderful things to the Texas consumers who love(d) Dublin Dr Pepper, it was also most assuredly a cornerstone of Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s modern day domination and financial success…. So it’s sort of like the mama spider who eats it’s own young (or maybe it’s own grandpa), except that this dinner victim had LOTS of friends who will not soon forget what happened. As consumers, and more importantly, as Texans, we need to stand up to these giant corporations, and let them know (via the cash registers) that we’re not going to quietly let them trample our beloved heritage! Join the revolt at our Facebook page: http://www.Facebook.com/BoycottDrPepper
Hello, Jerry, thanks for the post. Snapple won’t be hard to boycott! Good luck with the effort.
While you’re right a few points here from someone who lived near Dublin and has followed the product since:
Quote: Let’s get this out of the way right up front. A contract is a contract. When Snapple bought Dr. Pepper, the folks in Dublin, Texas weren’t supposed to sell their special concoction, sweetened with pure cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, beyond a six-county territory within 40 miles of the plant.
My response: There are a few problems here – the six county territory is more than a 40 mile circumference from Dublin. Counties here go at least 15 miles width wise.
Additionally, that contract was made long before Internet, and it’s been on record that people bought the product there and resold it elsewhere. Dublin had a limit on cases for that reason. If it’s sold in the county – even for redistribution – that means it’s in the boundaries of the contract. (Or at least OUR understanding – they’ve never clarified this).
Quote: And they weren’t supposed to add “Dublin” to the Dr. Pepper trademark. I preach from my soapbox a lot about maintaining the integrity of the brand, so I see Snapple’s point of view. Looks like the contract was violated on both counts.
My response: Again – there is a huge issue here. For starters, DP approved this for decades, and even had the Dublin company on their web site. If it was an issue, they could’ve asked first to have Dublin remove the word “Dublin” from their beverage, and if refused, then sue. Apparently, this either didn’t happen or even if Dublin agreed they sued anyway.
Two things you need to consider too however – 1. Dublin had to can the beverage in Plano, as it can only bottle. This opened up a potential of them shipping it elsewhere. Per DPSG’s orders or Plano seeing money, I don’t know – but that was a huge possibility.
AND (wait for it)…
2. Not too long – about a year – before this suit, there was a PLASTIC bottled version of the drink with the same 10, 2 and 4 logo and worse, Dublin’s colors. These very BLATANT Plano produced drinks (again, Dublin can only do glass bottled beverages), and therefore DPSG was in violation of the contract – and even more blatantly than any claims they had on Dublin.
In short – they honestly knew they were in trouble with the contract, not Dublin, so they forced the suit.
The cost? – they’re losing stock ratings (and the stock has dropped in value), the “heritage DP” is selling worse than New Coke, Clear Pepsi and 7Up Gold (and the last two actually did decent), and eventually they’ll realize people aren’t going to take bullies who destroy a 121-year old tradition for a paltry additional $5 million in a $6.5 BILLION industry.
Mel, thanks for the detail that certainly underscores what a complex issue this was. Too bad Snapple just didn’t get it.
It is sad that in this day and time of job losses and poor economy that a large company would come in with their big shot lawyers and take down a small community icon like it was nothing. Everything about Dublin Dr Pepper promoted the parent brand. It WAS the original, the true parent of the DPSG as far as history goes. There was no conspiracy to undermine DPSG. I had been drinking Dr Pepper for the last 15 years or more. It was my favorite. But I stopped on the day the sad news came out. I am proud to say my lips have not had another DPSG product cross them and they won’t the rest of my life. Call it silly, call it worthless in the big scheme of things by asking “What can one man’s boycott of Dr Pepper products accomplish?” Well I don’t care what others call it. I call it sticking to my Texas roots of honoring Texas history and our Texas people and their way of life! Goodbye to Dr Pepper / Snapple products.
From a midwesterner, not a texan, I learned about Dr. Pepper in Dublin when on vacation a couple years ago. We were interested in seeing the bottling plant so we drove 6 or 7 hours just to get there and tour the plant. At the time it renewed our interest in DP, especially the Dublin plant. After learning about this issue not long ago, we have stopped purchasing all DPSG products. We are in NW Missouri, i have been posting this on fb lately letting my friends know what has happened. I will continue tyhe education of people up here for a long time. I am making magnetic business card Boycott posters and will be putting them on every DPSG machine I see. This way if someone sees the magnet, I dont care if they take it because they may check into it and support it. Wake up DPSG, the consumers will NOT forget and the news of this will spread.
Snapple/Dr Pepper and all the other “brands” that fall under this umbrella will never be purchased by our family. You don’t treat a long Texas tradition the way these boys have and get away with it. Texans have a long memory – you bet your sweet a.. we do! Coke tastes pretty good these days. Every purchase comes with a bit of revenge in it.
Have not had a non Dublin Dr Pepper since the boycott started in January. Still hoping for Dr Pepper-Snapple reprieve but I can hold out till it happens.
Hoarding my remaining supply.
Have you heard the other disaster that the DRPSG has created. Read this story:
http://www.dailykitten.com/chat/topic/40239
They fired a Manager for feeding feral cats that were at some property near the bottling plant. I think this man has a case for wrongful termination.
Mel, thanks for adding the information about Dublin Bottling Works getting corporate approval for all of their labeling. IF DPSG had a clue, they would have promoted Dublin Dr Pepper and made it more available. If it was sold out of the Dublin area, let a percentage of the profit go to the local bottler. Had they done that, this would have been a Win-Win situation instead of a Loose-Loose situation.
Am I boycotting DPSG? Well yes and no. I am supporting Dublin Bottling Works. It is important for people to know that Dublin Bottling Works is still open. They now bottle Triple XXX Root Beer, Big Red, NuGrape, and SunCrest. I understand that DPSG owns these brands as well, but they are bottled under different contracts. So, I am boycotting DPSG products EXCEPT those purchased at or given to me by Dublin Bottling Works. I have taken the tour twice since the news broke. Both tours started out as the tours always have with them giving us a free Dr Pepper. The big difference was that the Dr Pepper is no longer a Dublin Dr Pepper. One of the tours was while they were bottling. I received a real treat as one of the employees handed me a bottle of Triple XXX Root Beer right off the line. You can’t get fresher than that. I think I am going to like my new favorite drink
Obviously in my last post, Loose-Loose should have been Lose-Lose.
I am sure that my boycott will not harm Dr Pepper/Snapple Group, nor will the boycott of the rest of my family. However, once my supply of Dublin Dr Pepper is gone, there will not be another DPSG product in my home. I may not be a native Texan, but I’m married to one and raised three, and I’ve learned how to be extremely stubborn in the last 38 years.
Lots of Texas tradition was stored in those glass bottles from Dublin, which was my point about branding. And don’t be so sure that your little piece of the boycott won’t have an effect. Read the last paragraph in Mel’s comment above about falling stock prices.
I’m so proud of my wife Laura. We are both true Texans and WERE Dublin Dr. Pepper drinkers when we could get it. And like Laura, I grew up putting peanuts in my Dr. Pepper every time I had a bottle of the 10-2-4. Snapple needs to understand that you don’t push Texans (and their Dr. Pepper or anything else) around. Corporate Bullies are not wanted is Texas!!!