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UNITED BEVERAGES:
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT GENIUS OR ONE-HIT WONDER?
Paul Diaz sat in his office late at night staring at the financial statements of the company
he had co-founded, United Beverages. He always enjoyed the view from his office high atop
Brickell Avenue in Miami, Florida. On this night, there wasnt a cloud in the sky and the
moonlight lit up all of Biscayne Bay. Under normal circumstances it was a very soothing view.
Unfortunately, Diaz couldnt seem to relax. The year had just come to an end, and he wanted to
review the data given to him by his chief financial officer (Exhibit 1). He leaned back for a
moment and realized that it was past midnight and for the first time in almost five years, he had
cause for concern.
United Beverages first product, GangBusters Interactive Beverages, was reaching the
stage of wide brand recognition. However, over the past 12 months, growth had stalled and
Diazs mind was already focused on the future. Would it be possible to develop another
successful product like GangBusters? Could it be that United Beverages was just a one-hit
wonder? As an experienced entrepreneur, Diaz had gone through various ups and downs with his
previous ventures, and he did not want to see his latest and most successful creation fail. Several
ideas for future growth had been discussed in previous meetings with his product development
team. The best candidate was a carbonated energy drink for kids aged 9 to 12. However, Diaz
was not completely sold on the idea. He grabbed a GangBusters bottle off his desk and stared at
it. Maybe United needed a revolutionary product idea in order to become a serious player in the
highly competitive beverage industry. For the past few weeks, he had been tossing around just
such an idea: flavor mixing as a revolutionary new interactive beverage. He was excited and
wanted to bring the development team up to speedtomorrows development meeting would be
a milestone for United Beverages.

This case was prepared by Raul O. Chao, Assistant Professor of Business Administration at the Darden School of
Business, and Stylianos Kavadias, Assistant Professor of Operations Management at the Georgia Institute of
Technology College of Management. The case should be used as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate
effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. All names and numbers have been changed to ensure
confidentiality. Copyright 2007 by the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation, Charlottesville, VA. All
rights reserved. To order copies, send an e-mail to sales@dardenbusinesspublishing.com. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any
meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the permission of the Darden
School Foundation.

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United Beverages History

In the early 1980s, University of Miami students, best friends, and business majors Paul
Diaz and Charles Smith combined their respective knowledge of marketing and finance to write
their first business plan. The product: plastic clip-on sun visors that could be customized for
different corporate clients, branded, and used for marketing purposes. The idea took off and
catapulted Diaz and Smith into almost 15 years of entrepreneurship.
After flipping multiple successful businesses (with a few casualties along the way), the
two friends joined forces again in 1997 and formed United Beverages. They used past experience
to manufacture and market a full range of houseware products, including high-quality insulated
plastic cups, coffee mugs, plates, bowls, sports bottles, backpacks, and lunch kits.
During a joint project with Sea World in Orlando, Florida, Diaz identified an untapped
retail niche: interactive beverages. Sea World and United teamed up to apply the companys
expertise in a new directionthe creation of Looney Tunes character beverages for sale at Sea
World theme parks. The Sea World project was a tremendous success. While working the
beverage carts themselves and selling the Looney Tunes drinks to kids throughout the park, Diaz
and Smith realized that the interactive beverages category was going to be lucrative.
They spent several months redefining the product concept and brand strategy. The
GangBusters brand really took off in 1999 when United negotiated with Warner Bros. for the
retail rights to produce and market the first generation of interactive beverages featuring the
Scooby-Doo character. Publix signed on as the initial GangBusters retail partner in Florida, and
Scooby-Doos remarkably positive test results paved the way for a national rollout in the spring
of 2000. Because of their success with Publix, GangBusters won placements with other major
distributing chains (Kroger, 7-Eleven, and Target, among others). United Beverages has since
negotiated additional licensing agreements with Warner Bros., Disney, Universal Studios,
Marvel Comics, DC Comics, 20th Century Fox, Sanrio, and more. The GangBusters character
variety multiplied from Scooby-Doo and Power Rangers in 2000 to 45 collectible characters
including Looney Tunes, the Powerpuff Girls, Spider Man, Superman, Batman, Cartoon
Network Originals, the Simpsons, Hello Kitty, and more (Exhibit 2).
Diazs intuition about the potential for the interactive beverage category was on target,
and the sales figures from U.S. retail stores backed him up (Exhibit 3). The nations secondlargest grocer reported that GangBusters owned five of the top-ten selling spots in their canned
juice/fruit drinks aisle. Within months of launching in 7-Eleven stores, GangBusters held the
number-one and number-three top selling spots among non-carbonated beverages, outselling
brands like Minute Maid, SoBe, and Kool-Aid Burst. GangBusters held the number-eight
position out of 100 total juice drink brands on Target shelves, outselling Ocean Spray, Sunny
Delight, Minute Maid, and Welchs. In addition, GangBusters held the number 13 position out of
the top-50 juice drink brands on Kroger shelves, outselling Minute Maid, Hawaiian Punch,
Fruitopia, and Snapple.

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The Development Team

Paul Diaz was a firm believer in the value of openness and flexibility. Red tape and
bureaucratic procedures were non-existent at United, and the company had maintained its
entrepreneurial spirit through five years of rapid growth. These values were reflected in the small
but highly efficient product-development team at United Beverages.
Katja von Robinson was Uniteds marketing guru. She had spent a great deal of time in
beverage marketing and was able to read between the lines of consumer research data. She was
also responsible for the market-introduction strategies of new products, as well as the branding
approaches the company used for their existing products. Von Robinson and Mary Smith made
up the marketing side of the development team; Smith was the production-marketing liaison,
ensuring that the correct products were on retail shelves during key marketing campaigns. Her
experience was invaluable, as she had spent the early years of her career cutting her teeth at
PepsiCo International.
Luis Hernandez brought production and packaging knowledge to the team. He also
brought deep contacts with suppliersa result of a 15-year career with Coca-Cola. Hernandez
reported directly to Bill McBride, the head of operations. McBride had been with United since
the early days of the company and was responsible for the production success that United
experienced with the ramp-up and rollout of GangBusters. Lastly, Bob Jones, an industrial
designer by training, claimed responsibility for the successful design of GangBusters. It was
Joness responsibility to provide ergonomic designs for the bottles United used for its products.
Although development meetings were often enriched by the presence of other collaborators, the
core development team was the driving force behind innovation at United Beverages.
Re-Revolutionizing the Beverage Industry
The development team was set to meet at 9 a.m. The meeting started with Diaz outlining
his recent thoughts about the future of United Beverages. GangBusters are great products, and
theyve done very well for us. But I think we may be reaching a plateau in terms of sales. We
need to seriously consider Uniteds futurewhat happens if Coke or Pepsi decide to get into the
interactive beverage category? Can we handle that type of threat?
Von Robinsons reaction was instantaneous: No waywed be wiped out! The
GangBuster concept is great, but its still vulnerable to the competition. I think we should expand
the flavors, introduce GangBusters in more countries, and hopefully create some barriers to
entry. Hernandez shook his head, You dont need to worry about barriers to entry. Coke wont
even bother to deal with us. Believe me, they do not care about the interactive beverage
category.

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At that point, Diaz grabbed the opportunity to outline his vision for United Beverages.
Folks, I think we need to revive some of the innovative spirit we had when we
launched GangBustersafter all, thats what weve done well. Real innovation is
the only way we can secure our future in this industry. Consider this: Last night I
was surfing on eBay and what I found was pretty remarkablean entire trading
category is listed under the GangBuster title. I think GangBusters is a brand name
thats on its way to becoming a product description maybe were on our way to
becoming the next Xerox or Kleenex!
As he spoke those words, Diaz reminded himself to relax. He continued, Seriously, the
mix of innovation and marketing we have is something special. Diaz described his idea for
United Beverages: dual-drinks and flavor mixing as the next big interactive beverage.
We could create an entirely new drink category. Two juices would be packaged in
a dual-chamber bottle and at the top of the bottle would be a mixing chamber.
Kids could choose to drink one flavor, or mix two flavors together to get an
entirely different color and flavor! I really think we can do thisdual-drinks
should be our next product!
As Diaz continued to outline his idea, Jones began to draw furiously. After about 10 to 15
minutes, he had something, Is this what you had in mind, Paul? (See Exhibit 4). Diaz was
elated, Excellent! This is real innovation; this is what United Beverages is all about! With this
product we can re-revolutionize the beverage industry! Diaz toned down his excitement just a
bit. Is re-revolutionize even a word? he thought to himself. It didnt matterhe was on a role.
Lets take a few weeks to get some information together and see if this is feasible. Lets make it
happen, folks!
New Products: The Next United Beverages Generation
The team spent the next few days throwing around ideas, concepts, target markets, etc.
The first meeting had planted the seeds, but dual-drinks were a completely unknown territory.
Despite their extensive experience, the development team was caught by surprise. Everyone
started searching for information that could help make sense of the pros and cons associated with
the development and marketing of dual-drinks. Two weeks later, the team met to discuss the
possibility of developing a dual-drink.
Von Robinson started by painting a vague picture. There is no real data on dual-drinks,
she said. Theres never been such a revolutionary concept and to be honest with you, we will
have to work from scratch on this one. I did some preliminary work with our standard focus
group plus some initial survey work and heres a summary of what I found. (See Exhibit 5.)
Von Robinson continued:

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To be honest, the market for dual-drinks is not well defined, but the potential may
be bigmaybe as much as four or five times the size of the GangBuster market.
We would have to conduct some more research and obtain better information. I
think the potential is definitely there, if we do some heavy product marketing.
Hernandez interrupted von Robinsons analysis. I think that there is some trouble if you
look beyond the market side, he said. Our suppliers are going to need big quantities to give us
low prices. In fact, theyre not even sure how this type of product would work. Hernandez was
painting a bleak picture.
I think the development costs are going to be substantial. The only good news is
that we might be able to patent the outcome. In addition to that, we need to
consider how were going to pay for this. Weve been pretty successful using
sales to fund new product development in the past, but Im not sure if we can pull
it off for the dual-drink idea.
Hernandez had a point. Diaz always considered innovation a fundamental part of the
United Beverages culture. In Paul Diazs eyes, innovation wasnt just a slick buzzwordhe
backed up his ideas by always committing dollars to new product development based on a
percentage of revenue.
Mary Smith interrupted and delivered what seemed to be the last blow to the idea:
Paul, arent we a bit lean on resources? Jumping into a capital-intensive new
product idea, while were working on expanding GangBusters, might be tough.
The dual-drink idea would require full commitment and significant ramp-up
investment. If we all dive into this new product as if its the holy grail we may be
spreading thin. After all, we arent Coke or Pepsi, and we cant spread our
resources around at whim.
As she spoke, Smith handed out a summary of some potential projects being considered
by the group (see Exhibit 6). She continued, I think GangBusters are still vulnerable as a
product, and they account for almost all of our revenue. What if we ignore GangBusters and the
revenue stream dries up?
After a few long seconds of silence, McBride spoke up, I think Mary has a point. We
need to capitalize on what we learned from the GangBusters experience. McBride emphasized
the word learned. What if kids dont like the dual-drink? We dont even have a good grasp on
the potential market size. Also, we would feel a huge crunch if we spread ourselves thin. As
usual, McBride had a knack for bringing Diaz down to earth.

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McBride continued:
I think we should focus our efforts on improving GangBusters. If we concentrate
our effort, we can finish that project quickly and keep the sales coming in. After
all, the guys at Coke are coming out with new derivative products every month
last month it was coffee-flavored Coke. God knows what will come next!
Diaz rebutted in a rather sarcastic tone, What do you propose, Bill? Stay with the
GangBusters forever? Not introduce any new products? That sounds like a great way to make
sure were still around in two years. Product development meetings often resulted in heated
exchanges, and McBride was not shy about putting in his two cents, even if it meant butting
heads with the founder of the company: Im not saying we should sit around and wait, Paul. If
we want to do more, we can always go back to the Kid-Energy drink that weve been discussing.
The preliminary market numbers have been pretty encouraging for the Kid-Energy idea.
Hernandez jumped back into the fray. Im with Paul on this one. Sure, the Kid-Energy
drink may be easier to produce, but itll have plenty of competition and its not a guaranteed
success by any stretch of the imagination. I think it would be tough to repeat the GangBusters
success with an incremental product. It became clear that the team was not going to reach a
consensus. Diaz decided it was best to end the meeting on a positive note. All right guys, I think
this is a good start. Lets put all this information together and well make a decision the next time
we meet.
Expanding the Portfolio or Not?
Over the next few days, Diaz faced a complex decisionone that would determine the
future of United Beverages. There were convincing arguments for the tremendous payoff that
was possible with a dual-drink. However, the development team was also clear about the dangers
associated with a rapid expansion of the portfolio. United was a young companystill feeling
the growing pains associated with 300% annual growth over the last five years, and the company
did not have the enormous financial pockets of some of its bigger competitors. Part of the
dilemma was that United Beverages depended heavily on existing product sales to fund
development. In fact, the company had always committed 8% to 10% of revenue toward research
and development (R&D) and new product development.
Paul Diaz was back in his office looking over the data gathered by the product
development team. He wondered, Should we continue to invest in GangBusters, or should we
develop one of the new product ideas? Biscayne Bay seemed more tranquil than ever.
Unfortunately, Diaz couldnt say the same for himself. He had to make a decision and the
development team was meeting again in two weeks to decide which way to go.

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Case Questions
1. What are some of the pros and cons for each development project? What should United
Beverages take into account when deciding which product(s) to develop?
2. Assume that the total development cost can be spread evenly over the development time.
Construct a graph of Development Time as a function of Monthly Investment for the
Kid-Energy drink and dual-drink projects.
3. If you were a member of the development team, which project(s) would you recommend
United Beverages pursue? Analyze some of the potential scenarios based on the
information and data provided in the case. Present a best-case versus worst-case income
statement for the next two years (2003 and 2004). Be sure to outline all of your
assumptions.

United Beverages Selected Financials (2002)

UNITED BEVERAGES:
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT GENIUS OR ONE-HIT WONDER?

Exhibit 1

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-9Exhibit 2
UNITED BEVERAGES:
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT GENIUS OR ONE-HIT WONDER?
The GangBusters Product Line

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-10Exhibit 3
UNITED BEVERAGES:
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT GENIUS OR ONE-HIT WONDER?
Total U.S. Retail Sales by Brand

BEVERAGES: JUICE / FRUIT DRINKS

TOTAL U.S. RETAIL SALES BY BRAND
52 WEEKS ENDING 12/31/2002
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50

CAPRI SUN
GATORADE
HI-C
GATORADE FROST
CRYSTAL LIGHT
GANG BUSTERS
KOOL-AID JAMMERS
MINUTE MAID
MINUTE MAID COOLERS
HAWAIIAN PUNCH
PRIVATE LABEL
OCEAN SPRAY
KOOL-AID BURSTS
MINUTE MAID EXTREME COOLERS
POWERADE
SOBE
NANTUCKET NECTARS
GATORADE ICE
FRUIT WORKS
SNAPPLE
TANG
DOLE
ODWALLA
COOL TOPZ
FRUITOPIA
SUNNY DELIGHT
SUNNY DELIGHT
MINUTE MAID
OLD ORCHARD
WELCH'S
CTL BR
TROPICANA TWISTER
COUNTRY TIME
OCEAN SPRAY SWEETIE
SOBE LEAN
TAMPICO
LIPTON BRISK
BORDEN
MISTIC
SOBE SPORTS SYSTEM
ELEMENTS
MAD RIVER
FAYGO
ANDERSON ERICKSON
SANTA CRUZ ORGANIC
MOUNTAIN SUN
FAIRMONT-ZARDA
ARIZONA
MEADOW GOLD
FIVE ALIVE

Source: ACNielsen Retail Measurement Insights

Dollar Sales

Units Sold

338,708,172
190,184,255
115,491,369
60,968,962
50,174,257
49,293,568
48,547,696
37,673,797
36,569,282
31,080,362
26,718,739
23,720,249
22,505,338
21,847,295
19,030,638
14,979,807
11,995,991
8,819,913
8,749,124
6,062,151
5,535,787
5,018,424
4,961,934
4,652,970
4,650,899
4,407,216
3,728,018
3,058,651
2,468,795
2,318,354
1,825,797
1,809,314
1,320,089
1,012,230
948,426
926,610
892,482
346,021
271,524
211,796
178,470
172,140
169,619
161,342
152,130
139,710
89,836
88,254
82,457
81,434

179,865,851
60,996,022
51,623,576
17,092,021
14,077,239
21,851,283
23,713,561
26,503,805
14,687,497
18,588,751
15,317,983
10,600,160
21,094,365
9,140,530
14,120,074
12,011,925
1,664,449
7,643,481
8,212,728
5,138,558
1,195,947
4,315,923
1,709,108
2,028,794
4,169,110
2,343,091
2,286,397
1,515,730
1,465,710
1,048,195
583,327
748,835
1,182,351
398,985
745,588
544,499
768,194
323,790
291,857
150,571
144,823
150,861
269,721
127,938
51,277
36,451
74,215
57,495
54,925
36,479

Price / Unit
1.88
3.12
2.24
3.57
3.56
2.26
2.05
1.42
2.49
1.67
1.74
2.24
1.07
2.39
1.35
1.25
7.21
1.15
1.07
1.18
4.63
1.16
2.90
2.29
1.12
1.88
1.63
2.02
1.68
2.21
3.13
2.42
1.12
2.54
1.27
1.70
1.16
1.07
0.93
1.41
1.23
1.14
0.63
1.26
2.97
3.83
1.21
1.53
1.50
2.23

-11Exhibit 4
UNITED BEVERAGES:
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT GENIUS OR ONE-HIT WONDER?
Bob Joness First Sketch of the Dual-Drink Bottle

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-12Exhibit 5
UNITED BEVERAGES:
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT GENIUS OR ONE-HIT WONDER?
Results of Preliminary Market Research

PRELIMINARY MARKET RESEARCH ANALYSIS (01/15/2003)

CONFIDENTIAL - DO NOT DISTRIBUTE

UNITED beverages

Assumptions:
1) Continued growth for GangBusters in target customer segment (adolescents aged 9-14).
2) Cross-selling opportunity due to product familiarity with GangBusters.

Preliminary Conclusions for Dual Drinks:

1) Potential market is 4-5 times current GangBusters market in the long-run.
2) Slower acceptance rate (focus group was unsure about product use and understanding).
3) Approximately 50% of survey respondents were "not sure" regarding the idea.
Almost 25% of respondents expressed some sort of "positive" feedback.

Preliminary Conclusions for Kid-Energy Drink:

1) Potential market is smaller than current GangBuster market.
2) Fast acceptance rate (focus group indicated easy product use and understanding
due to the current market for energy drinks).
3) Approximately 80% of survey respondents expressed "positive" feedback.

Potential Development Projects

UNITED BEVERAGES:
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT GENIUS OR ONE-HIT WONDER?

Exhibit 6

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