Minute Maid courts new audience with looks, focus on health

If you’re a marketer wanting to grow a commodity product, there are two primary ways to succeed: Either tap into your existing customer base differently or steal market share from competitors.

The Minute Maid brand, operated by The Cola-Cola Co., will be an interesting case study as it takes the latter route in 2010. Company President Mike Saint John tells the Houston Chronicle he believes Minute Maid can grow its juice market share by 50% through edgier packaging and a shift to focusing on the product’s health benefits.

Both tactics, he says, are intended to court a younger audience. Traditionally, Minute Maid has focused marketing efforts on moms, but now it is courting both men and women ages 25 to 39.

Minute Maid has aggressively accelerated distribution as well. The brand’s products now appear in Whole Foods, BJ’s Wholesale Club, and in convenience stores.

Know what consumers are willing to trade up for or give them a reason to switch brands. Following that approach can add marketing muscle to a brand, especially when it seeks to ride a category’s growth cycle.