'Halos' vs. 'Cuties', may the best marketing win
Wednesday on "First Look with Scott Cox," Californian reporter John Cox talked about the $100 million campaign behind the newest product -- the Halos.
Five years ago, Paramount Citrus and Sun Pacific joined forces and created the brand name Cuties. But earlier this year, the two companies "broke up" and the Cuties brand name went to Sun Pacific so Paramount was left with no brand name under which to promote its product.
"Paramount was stuck with a brand new 640,000-square-foot packaging house in Delano that could pump out 12 million Cuties a day, so they had to come up with a new name," Cox said.
Both companies kept about 14,000 mandarin acres each in Kern and other parts of the southern valley. Halos were available in grocery stores in November.
Cox said the only way for Paramount to move forward was to create a different name and market it as much as possible. "It's about branding, not so much about the product," Cox said. "It's that connection you have with the name that makes for great marketing."
Source: bakersfieldcalifornian.com
