A new ethical tea brand start up a case study

A start-up tea brand. Having helped the 112-year-old parent company, Reginald Ames, a commercial tea packer, we were invited to develop and launch a consumer brand.

Their Challenge

They could source an excellent high-quality product from the parent brand, but they had never sold tea directly to the consumer. It was going to be a learning curve for all involved. Also, they were launching a brand in the middle of a global pandemic when nobody knew might happen next. 

Our strategy

We knew there was an opportunity for the business as the product was so good, and of course, one of the results of COVID19 was people were shopping more online for everyday products as they couldn't or didn't want to leave their homes. Add to this the growing sense of supporting local - we felt that it was an excellent opportunity to launch the brand. The only way to launch, we felt, was online and into local farm shops and delis. 

How we helped

Once the designer had completed all the brand assets, we were ready to create an e-commerce website from scratch. We used the Shopify platform for ease of use (And it is relatively quick to get up and running) and the fact that it is straightforward to integrate with purpose-built applications to build sales.

We have also undertaken the following:

• Planned and created a content strategy 

• Planned and scheduled social media content

• Put in place systems to gain customer reviews

• Built the Instagram following from 0 Instagram follows in Jan 2021 to 2615 in September 2021

• Devised and published free prize draws that have raised awareness around the brand.

• We are currently working on partnerships with other like-minded businesses to promote the brand.

• Final strategies of creating a subscription model for the tea

• Launching new teas later in the year 

Whilst building the website, we then went on to create the overall brand strategy and marketing plan.