The Trouble With $3 Jamba Juice Smoothies

Retailers are working extra hard these days.  On my afternoon walk, I saw two guys standing near the station selling $3 Jamba Juice smoothies out of a white box.  I know Jamba Juice wants to drive sales but I think this is a penny wise pound foolish strategy for three principle reasons:

— Brand dilution: I thought the unique selling proposition of Jamba Juice was that one could walk up to the counter, order a smoothie and have the juice expert prepare it right in front of us?

— Authenticity: How do I even know if this is a legit setup? The guys were wearing Jamba Juice tee-shirts but there was no specific branding on the box itself.

— Price point: Is $3.00 for a Jamba Juice smoothie too high or too low? The only people who could really answer this are Jamba Juice regulars.  So, in effect, this promoted price means little to non-customers.  The whole idea of setting up a stand on the street is to get non-customers to try your product once.

Here is what I would have done:

— I would have made a nice little Jamba Juice banner, slapped Jamba Juice stickers on the box, slapped another sticker on the smoothie itself and given customers an authentic proof of purchase receipt.

— Instead of saying “$3 Jamba Juice Smoothies” I’d say “Pedestrian Special 25% discounted Jamba Juice Smoothies for only $3.00“