Friday, November 8, 2013

Tetley Tea Brand Analysis

The following is a Brand Analysis report I did on Tetley Tea Canada.


 
Brand Analysis
Tetley Canada
 
Jessica Batchelor
10/21/2013

 

 

   
 




Table of Contents










 


 

Who They Are


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.

History


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.

Who Are The Consumers?


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.

 

Who Are The Competition?


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).

What Makes Tetley Unique?


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 Strengths and Weaknesses


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".

Recommendations


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.


Works Cited


 

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/

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