Ringtons Tea: Research

I began by visiting Morrisons and looking at the tea section. I really want to rebrand tea packaging as this isn't something I have done before and it will be a good challenge.

I quite like the idea of rebranding Ringtons tea as I don't particularly like the packaging. They are a family run business and still are - they used to deliver tea by horse and cart hence the logo. They have kept the tradition and great customer service by still delivering to their customers however they have traded in the horse and carriage for a more practical van. Their products are also sold in supermarkets and have the packaging shown above, I feel like it doesn't do the product justice and it doesn't really stand out on the shelf. The logo has been used to create a repeat background pattern which makes it feel like they didn't know what to put there.

I want to do a bit of research into the competition so that I could 1. see who Ringtons needs to compete against and 2. to see how they have tackled similar hurdles. Tetley tea has been around for ages, but I have always found it quite dated or at least targeting an older audience. A few years ago they launched a campaign to attract a younger market.

Competitors - Yorkshire Tea, Lipton, Twinings, PG tips, Tetley 
 
Tetley
Tetley Tea uses the Tea Folk to advertise the product and tell the brand's story. After doing a bit of research I found that in 2001 Tetley stated "As part of an overall review of the marketing of the Tetley Tea brand in the UK, we are re-examining our Advertising Agency arrangements. We cannot speculate on what changes this may lead to, and cannot say at this stage how it might affect the use of the Tea Folk in the future." 

In 2012 they repositioned their campaign to appeal to a younger generation. The advert's did well to attract a younger audience. A  woman gets her dream job and instead of posting it on Facebook she decided to invite her friends over for a cuppa to tell them. Before posting, she imagines the responses the post will get from online “friends”, she then realises she’d much rather share the news face-to-face with her real friends over a cup of Tetley, with the ad finishing on the friends enjoying their tea and a chat. The slogan "Make time, Make Tetley" captures their new positioning and assosiates the product with the important social interactions.

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I am now wondering whether I take this further and redesign their packaging to attract a younger audience of tea lovers. This could increase the brands usage amongst a younger group however the challenge will be to retain key design elements so that current loyal customers still continue to love and use the product whilst changing enough to attract a new, younger market.