Castle & Cooke (C&C), the Pineapple King and parent company of Dole, was poised for growth and wanted to establish their presence in multiple premium-priced branded food categories. According to Ian Wilson, C&C president and CEO, “We’re going to try a whole range of things.”*
Michele, then at New Products Network, designed qualitative research to identify the essence of the brand and provide suggestions to leverage that essence to expand the Dole supermarket franchise.
Modifying a research technique called Brand Franchise Extension (BFE), she was able to do just that. Zwillinger’s research suggested that Dole—known at the time only for fresh pineapple products—had the opportunity to expand in multiple directions based on the inherent sweetness associated with the brand, as well as to capitalize on the natural goodness of products grown from the earth.
So the research and Zwillinger’s interpretation of it, lead Dole to expand in two distinctly different and equally profitable directions—with sweet dessert products and also natural products featuring healthy, raw fruits and vegetables.
As a result, Dole was able to re-position the brand to “A Sunny Place Called Dole*” and leverage the brand name—adding a “sweet and chilled” division (Dole Fruit Sorbet, Fruit ‘n Juice Bars, Dole Fruit Coolers, etc.), and an expansion in fresh fruits and vegetables including pre-cut vegetables, single packs for small households, Wok Packs for Oriental food lovers, and branded Dole bananas. Maximizing the “fresh” part of the new branding, Dole also expanded its pineapple line with the addition of canned pineapple packed in its own juice and unsweetened juices.
Just 10 months after Fruit ‘n Juice Bars were introduced, the line achieved $100 million in sales. From there, regular introductions of line extensions and new products allowed C&C to build its presence in the chilled and frozen sections of the supermarket, as well as in the fresh produce and snack aisles.
*Source: Castle & Cooke Moves to ‘Sunny Place Called Dole,’ ADWEEK, November 5, 1964
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