The following is a Brand Analysis report I did on Tetley Tea Canada.
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Brand
Analysis
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Tetley
Canada
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Jessica Batchelor
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10/21/2013
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Table of Contents
Tetley Canada is a brand that
belongs to a much larger corporation called Tata Global Beverages. Tata is a
global organization that specializes in "good for you" beverages such
as teas, waters, caffeinated/decaffeinated, and more. Tata's wide selection of
brands and extensive line of products allow them to reach and meet the supply
and demand of the hydration market. Their vision for all their brands is " We believe passionately in
making the world a better place through life-enhancing sustainable hydration -
and it’s our mission to make this a reality." (Tata, 2013).
Tetley
products are currently consumed and enjoyed in 70 countries worldwide and is
the market leader in Canada. Tetley offers a wide selection of tea products in
a multitude of forms in order to keep a competitive and innovative edge. Aside
from regular bag teas such as orange pekoe or earl grey, Tetley has produced
tea infusions, premade tea drinks, and exciting new flavours. The product
variants have lead to over 45 million cups of Tetley products being consumed
daily. The main headquarters for Tetley/ Tata Canada is located in Etobicoke
Ontario.
In 1837, Joseph and Edward Tetley
started selling homemade tea blends. Due to the success and demand for their
tea, they set up a business and became tea merchants. In 1856 the brothers,
along with Joseph Ackland set up the official "Joseph Tetley &
Company, Wholesale Tea Dealers". It wasn't until the 1880's that they started selling tea to
the United States, and started to incorporate new methods of making tea; such
as the tea bag.
As of the 1960's, Tetley has
harnessed innovative ideas to enhance the love of tea around the world. The
round tea bag was launched in 1989 with the trend of drinking tea out of a mug.
Next came the "No drip, no mess" drawstring tea bag. Tetley finally
joined Tata Global Beverages in 2000 and has remained the second leading tea
supplier in the world.
Since health has become a main
concern within most households, the average tea drinker is no longer the
primary target. Tetley has created a variety of healthy tea drinks to promote their
new mission of creating a healthy sustainable lifestyle via hydration.
Typically the original Tetley audience was females, late twenties all the way
up to women in their eighties who enjoyed tea time or tea with breakfast. Now
that Tetley has created some more exotic flavours and variations of how to
drink tea, a younger, healthier demographic is being targeted. The health
conscious mothers, daughters, and grandmothers are the new additions to the
primary audience. Tetley has launched many segmentations of herbal and health
teas over the past few years to address the demand for healthy options such as
their latest Chai collection or Green Tea Plus collection. The commercials and
images they use to associate with the teas all promote a healthy, clean, simple
look to attract the target audience. Tetley also provides recipes and fresh new
ideas on how to prepare the teas in order to provide a new and exciting spin on
the original classic of drinking tea; this healthier target audience tends to
be willing to try something new and likes variety. Another collection that has
recently been launched is the "Cocktail" inspired collection that
caters to the stereotypical "Big City" or "New Yorker"
lifestyle women. The collection features flavours such as 'Cosmo' and 'Pina Colada'
to incorporate a party feel to a tasty tea drink. With so many exotic and
fruity new flavours, it is very obvious that the target audience is primarily
females or more feminine men based on gender stereotypes. Tetley does have a
Facebook page, Twitter account, and YouTube channel to advertise to the
"tech-savvy" consumers about promotions, discounts, and new products.
Since Tetley is the second global
leader in the tea drinking industry, they have managed to compete and win their
title against many other brands. Tetley does not compete directly with any of
the other brands Tata has within their organization such as Tata Tea. Tetley's
number one competitor is Lipton, as they are the leading supplier worldwide in
this market. Other competitors would be Nestle, Higgins, and specialty tea
stores (i.e. Teopia). The reason why these other companies are consider
competitors is because of the similar products that they offer, the likeliness
that they are more conveniently located, or that they are trying to get
recognized. Tetley has been in the tea business for a long time and has become
a household name which has helped them stay on top and their adaptability to
keep up with the changing demand has separated them from rest.
Tetley's indirect competitors would
be anywhere that sells tea. Fast food chains are known for their convenience
and pricing but have a limited selection for similar products. Tim Hortons does
provide a range of teas to its customers, but their take home tea flavours are
limited in comparison to Tetley's range selection. Tetley provides an at-home
experience where the consumer can have their tea however they like, whenever
they like, as opposed to having a limited choice selection at any franchise
that could possibly mess up making the tea. Tetley doesn't compete with
Starbuck's either because they both work with Tata (Tata, 2013).
Tetley is unique because they are
able to offer one of their products to everyone. Tetley has many variants of
tea forms and flavours that even a non-tea drinker could find a product they
like. Tetley has managed to keep up with the changing supply and demand for all
the years they have been in business and gained valuable trust from its
original customers. As time has passed, Tetley has been able to get the
attention of the new generations and cater to their wants and needs. They have
used social media to put the word out about new products, get feedback about
who is using their products and how, and offer special discounts to encourage
brand loyalty. An effective tool that Tetley uses is offering free recipes on
how to use their teas which provides fresh ideas to consumers who may have
always thought drinking tea was just drinking tea.
Tetley is different from any other
tea company because it defines its identity by staying true to its values. They
have never had to use a celebrity endorser or give away any fancy electronics
to get their target audience's attention, they have always given their targets
what they are looking for. Tetley doesn't hide behind any flashy ad campaigns
but rather uses its quality products to speak for them. By creating specialty
collections of tea, Tetley is able to attract new consumers while still
catering to their already loyal customers. By not "selling out",
Tetley has gained trust and respect through simplicity and innovation which is
why they are on top. Tetley is known for its tagline: "Enrich your mind,
body, spirit" (Tetley Canada, 2013). This tagline is effective in pushing
their mission of living a healthy lifestyle which gives them an edge over their
competitors.
Tetley's number one strength would
be the variety and variations of tea products. Tetley is able to cater to
existing consumers as well as the new ones which inspires brand loyalty.
Another strength is their ability to remain a household name throughout the
changing times by using the latest technology to communicate because the
younger generations are more likely to receive updates via social media and the
internet. Tetley is adapting and changing the way people see tea by innovating
flavours and preparation procedures to keep the experience fresh and unique. They
are also willing to provide corporate information to consumers by linking that
website to their product's website. On the corporate website they share whom
their partners are, what their goals are, their culture within the company, and
where they get their resources for the products from. Tetley is a strong
company because of their quality products, honesty, and simplicity. They know
who their target audience is and know how to introduce new consumers to their
original and new product lines. Tetley has created partnerships with many
restaurant chains, that allows their teas and drinks to be the only tea
selections within that establishment thus increasing its chances of gaining a
new consumer.
A weakness for Tetley would be in
inability to have a restaurant/ coffee shop to serve all their tea variants.
Tetley lacks a face-to-face interaction with its consumers, unlike Tim Hortons
where you can choose to purchase the product based on customer service and
preparation methods. If a consumer doesn't know if they will like a certain
tea, finding a sample is not a likely occurrence and can defer them from
purchasing the new flavour all together. Unfortunately many older people don't
like change so if you overwhelm them with too many choices, you could lose
their interest and the ability to reach "new households".
In my opinion, Tetley is doing a
great job providing for their customers. I think they meet their supply and
demand perfectly and have done well for themselves. A key thing for them to do
to continue strengthening their reach to their target audiences would be to
give the audience more chances to sample the new products. Change can be
overwhelming so introducing new products in a smooth and friendly fashion could
increase brand loyalty and not intimidate original customers. Tetley should
keep up its online presence via social media and continue to innovate
themselves to reach their target audiences.
Tata Global Beverages. (2013).
Company Profile: Our Vision. Retrieved on October 16, 2013 from: http://www.tataglobalbeverages.com/about-us/our-vision
Tata Global Beverages.(2013).
Company Profile: Our Brands. Retrieved on October 16, 2013 from: http://www.tataglobalbeverages.com/our-brands/brands-overview
Tetley Canada.(2013). About Us: History.
Retrieved on October 18, 2013 from: http://www.tetley.ca/en/about-us/history
http://www.tetley.ca/
