Advertisements featuring the Snapple Lady, a former employee named Wendy who preached the gospel of Snapple to the common man, helped establish a solid base for the brand in the 90s.

Proudly sporting real fruit flavors and real tea since its conception in 1972, the "made from the best stuff on earth" tagline was solid. But after Quaker Oats took over from Unadulterated Food Corporation in 1994, the brand seemed to lose focus and definitely lost money; Quaker bought the beverage brand for US$ 1.7 billion only to sell three years later to Triarc for US$ 300 million.

Pundits blamed the "big corporate sell" approach as the downfall of Quaker's Snapple. Previously, Snapple was marketed toward a niche market and enjoyed a relatively empty cooler, but the increased competition from brands such as Lipton, Nestea and Coca-Cola's new Fruitopia threw Snapple into its own marketing frenzy. Gone were the unconventional pitchmen such as offbeat New York radio personality Howard Stern and Wendy, the comforting Snapple Lady with whom thirsty consumers seemed to identify.

Under Triarc's stewardship, Snapple brought back the zaniness of the brand, reinstated the Snapple Lady and Howard Stern, and slowly rebuilt the profits of the quirky brand. The beverage brand was purchased a mere three years later for US$ 1.45 billion by Cadbury Schweppes, the third largest soft drink maker in the world, behind Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.

Cadbury Schweppes continued with a "Little Fruits" theme launched under Triarc's stewardship, where television advertising spots personified the Snapple bottles, dressing them in fruit costumes, doing fruity things. This later led to more adult themes: fruits in bed together (flavors blending) and parent fruits having a birds and bees conversation with curious young teen fruits.

Snapple's research showed that the earlier Little Fruits' ads appealed to kids and folks in their 40s, but those in the in between ages were more interested in the newer, racier spots. Taking this into consideration, the brand came up with an idea to raise the cool quotient of Snapple to teenagers through 34 year olds by vamping up the brand image.

Taking the animation concept a step further, Snapple bottles now personify the demographic Snapple wanted to reach, including skate rats and punks, complete with clothes and hairpieces, enacting a variety of wacky teen rebel scenarios.

"We thought it was important to continue to be relevant while engaging younger viewers," says Steve Jarmon, Snapple's vice president of corporate communications. "This campaign does that. It engages younger viewers without alienating our loyal customers. It seems to appeal to both older and younger Snapple drinkers."

Dubbed as the "Real Experiences" campaign, the new TV commercials were created in 5, 10, 15 and 20-second versions, adding an element of the unexpected. In place of the "Made from the best stuff on earth" tagline, Snapple substituted sonic branding; as each spot concludes, the pop of a bottle opening sounds.

With an open-door policy that encourages employees to submit drink ideas, Snapple applied a similar line of thinking to its external promotion. The "What's Your Story" contest asks consumers to submit their own experiences through the Snapple website. The grand-prize winning spot is played out by the bottles and premiered as a Snapple commercial. One spot featured a punk band of Snapple bottles rocking out on stage. An audience member jumps up to stage dive, only to land on the floor as the moshing Snapple bottles part like the Red Sea. Entry requires applicants to provide demographic information, which in turn arms Snapple with more information on its target market.

Of course, the key to cracking a new demographic is choosing the ideal venue with which to rope in viewers and measure return. Throughout this campaign Snapple partnered with media conglomerate Viacom, known for its appeal among this age group, in a cross-platform deal. Viacom's MTV unit produced the initial Snapple spots, which aired on Viacom networks UPN as well as their cable properties MTV, MTV2, BET, VH1, Nick at Nite, CMT and TNN. Radio spots, promotional displays on bottles, Snapple.com, and outdoor promotion including billboards, bus shelters, mall kiosks, phone kiosks and air banners were all enlisted to integrate with the overall theme.

Although the product is available in 80 different countries, this particular integrated marketing campaign was focused in the US. It remains to be seen whether non-Americans will find dancing bottles an inducement to sip Snapple. Still, as long as Snapple doesn't lose sight of the qualities on which its brand is valued, it should find plenty of juicy inspiration in the predilections of its target market.

Vivian Manning-Schaffel is a freelance writer who lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.