Avoiding the Orange Juice Problem

I was once responsible for the Simply Orange Juice brand in Canada.

During that time in my career, I'd spend up to ten hours each workday thinking about orange juice.

How could I get more people interested in drinking orange juice? What orange juice innovations could I introduce to the market (like "Simple Orange with Coconut Water", pictured above) to get consumers and retail buyers excited about the category? How could I improve my orange juice packaging to make it look better on store shelves? How could I get people who bought my competitor's brand to buy my brand instead?

For 40 or 50 hours each week, all I would think about is orange juice.

But no consumer on Earth spends that much time thinking about orange juice.

In fact, most shoppers will only think about orange juice when they walk by the refrigerated section in their grocery store and see a flash of orange out of the corner of their eye. Then they might think, "Oh, I think I need some orange juice"... and proceed to buy either their favourite brand or the one that's on sale that week.

Over the years, I've come to call this "The Orange Juice Problem".

Most consumers will never think about your product as much as you do, and they certainly won't care about it as much.

When you believe that they do, you have an Orange Juice Problem. And unless you want your business to get squeezed, you need to do something about it.

A lot of great marketers I've met over the years, and every single founder I've ever met, has had an orange juice problem at some point. They are so genuinely excited about their brand or their business that they think the incredible appeal of what they're offering consumers is obvious to all.

But it's not.

You may know why your product is better than your competitors', but if you don't help your customers see that, you're unlikely to be successful.

You have to make them aware. Then you have to make them care.

Avoiding "The Orange Juice Problem" happens when you understand three things:

1. Most of your customers are not (and will likely never be) as knowledgeable about your brand's features, benefits, and value to their lives as you are.

   
   

2. Most of your customers are too preoccupied to be excited about the vast majority of products and services they use. (If you're reading this, you're on your phone or computer, but are you excited about these products, or do they simply serve their purpose and you use them without giving them a second thought? Exactly.)

   
   

3. It's possible to educate your customers about your brand and get them excited about it, but this definitely isn't going to happen without time, effort, and investment.

There's a saying I heard once that I force myself (and my clients) to think about often.

"It's hard to read the label from the inside of the bottle."

When you're working on your business all day, every day, it can be difficult to see your business objectively; to remind yourself that you are not your customers and that they see things differently than you.

But you have to learn how to do it.*

Or your competitors might beat your business to a pulp.

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* Or you have to hire someone who can do it for you. I've done this type of work for many different clients, so if you need someone who can look at your business objectively and tell you what you need to hear, reach out.