Tea and coffee.
They are the two primary contenders for hot beverage consumption with loyal (and often obsessed) fans on both sides.
Coffee lovers and espresso enthusiasts on one side. Green and black tea lovers on the other.
So how does a brand convey an authentic tea offering when one is known as a purveyor of fine locally craft-roasted coffees since 1987?
Part of it is knowing your sweet spot, and what your brand really represents. And also being to tell your brand story with properly art directed imagery.
In this case, it was a factor of knowing that one was really providing an oasis, a refuge from the everyday hustle and bustle while enjoying one’s favorite hot and cold beverages, snacks, fresh baked goods and meals.
What are you really selling?
This is where most brands fall into a black hole: being so myopically focused on the small offering, they lose sight of the bigger purpose they help their customers fulfill.
iTunes doesn’t just sell music. They sell convenience and access to music 24-7 along with exclusive concerts as part of the annual Festivals.
Ragu doesn’t sell spaghetti sauce. The Ragu brand sells convenience and a little more family time in today’s time-obsessed and hectic world.
Virgin doesn’t just sell its various offerings: it is extending an inclusive hand into an alternate world filled with people who are passionate and care about whatever their brand offering is from airlines to mobile phone plans. They’re just uncompromisingly cool people to be around in a world filled with half-baked concessions.
So, to share the love of tea with Dunn Brothers’ customers, we developed a seasonal campaign using serene still life images of their beverages with a soothing palette. These were shot on-site at one of their retail locations.
In stores, it looked like this:
We also designed window clings for when customers would be checking out:
Overall, this introduced a new line of beverages that was in sync with the brand’s overall offering of someplace to call home in those in-between moments between office and home, or work and play. In this way, we were able to introduce and sell tea from a company known for its coffee.
This was a natural extension from our other promotions, showing range of new flavors and the hand-crafted details of making a drink — all so the brand voice was consistent, as shown here:
We even developed a holiday poster (which went unused) starring coffee beans and the warm colors but still stayed true to our in-store menu designs we developed using chalkboard lettering. We bought quality pole banner hardware to be able to hang our sign outside the store during rush hours.
Know your brand’s sweet spot
All in all, if know your brand’s voice, know how to photograph your product properly and how to not lose sight of your brand’s overall purpose in your customer’s lives, you’ll be steaming hot for a long time to come.
