Flavor |

Brian Gainey

Johnson & Wales School of Business Blogger

Recently, The School of Hospitality at Johnson & Wales University honored Robert Marciano, Executive Vice President and Chief Sales & Marketing Officer of Arizona Beverage Company, as a Distinguished Visiting Professor. Along with this honor Marciano gave a short presentation with his background in the industry and his crowning achievements.

Robert Marciano is credited with bringing Arizona Beverage into a new era in 1992 when the company had just 2 flavors and small niche market. Now over 20 years later, Arizona has over 90 products in its portfolio and a “big can” full of fame.

In 1990 the company introduced its line of green tea with one idea in mind. Create a high quality product in packaging that stands out. In 1992 the first 23oz big can hit the shelves in New York City for a simple .99 cents. Why? The company stands behind a philosophy to “Keep it Simple & Keep it Good”. With variety of delicious and popular flavors, the company listens to its fans and plans accordingly. If the customer doesn’t like it, it’ll never sell. They created a product that has no preservatives and there’s nothing on the nutrition label you won’t be able to read. In a world where consumers are beginning to boycott soda products because of the additives, it’s extremely important to stay focused on quality. “Keep it Real” The company has an innovative approach to marketing, and extremely successfully. They boast about not spending much on traditional advertising while competitors are spending millions. All the while Arizona tea spends money where it matters, the consumer. With a contest based on art and packaging, “Cherry Lime Rickey” was introduced and has become one of the most popular in the bunch. Born out of an interactive contest, and customer art. “Keep it in America” Arizona is proud that its first drop of flavor was created in New Jersey, just outside of New York City, where Arizona calls home. All natural flavor, keeping it real, in the U.S.A. That’s a philosophy to stand behind!

Marciano has also played a key role in bringing on celebrity endorsers. In the year 2000 Arizona tea took a well-known golf club mixer known as the Arnold Palmer and gave it a brand new look. Mass producing the ice tea/lemonade mix made popular by legendary golfer Arnold Palmer, the company introduced the product at golf courses. The flavor quickly grew in popularity and became one of the most popular mass-produced tea flavors in existence. Through the popularity of this first celebrity endorser, others flooded the brand with calls, all wanting to create a flavor of their own.

How does an 80-year-old man make a bottled beverage brand popular in all markets? Simple. It’s not about the celebrity, it’s about the drink. Shaquille Oneill approached Arizona tea with one idea in mind, staying relevant. Shaq told Marciano, I want to stay fresh and popular in all realms, not just in basketball. “Soda Shaq” was born and has risen to a new level of popularity.The famous over-sized sports stars face can be seen on a large portion of the can, in 4 different flavors. When Marciano was asked how the company handles these sometimes unpredictable celebrities tie to the famous brand, he simply answered “Have you seen Scarface?”. He went on to say that the celebrities the brand is associated with are incredible people, in many ways. With a glimpse at the future of the brand, Marciano told the audience to look out for reality TV star turned entrepreneur television show host Bethenny Frankel‘s addition to the Arizona brand with Skinnygirl water. Frankel sold her wildly popular Skinnygirl cocktail company to Fortune Brands’ Beam Global for an estimated $100 million in 2011.

Marciano ended his exciting presentation with a look at several photos of he and Shaq. We were able to speak with Marciano after the presentation where he told us about several innovative beginnings for the brand. An interactive smart phone app that allows the customer to play a game using the camera on smart phones to interact with the Soda Shaq line of beverage cans. Shooting a basketball into Shaq’s mouth and hearing feedback phrases from the famous basketball player. Marciano also asked for feedback of the brands website for which he was very proud of and mentioned updates coming soon.

The event was followed by a reception where guests were treated to plenty of Arizona beverage and hors d’oeuvres prepared by the hospitality college at Johnson & Wales University featuring several of the different Arizona flavors. We thank Robert Marciano and Arizona Beverage Company for visiting our University and are proud to honor him as Distinguished Visiting Professor. Be sure to visit the links associated with this post for more information.