SILVER: Off to a Good Start
Situation Analysis: Tetley Infusions is a single-serve tea-based drink mix that you add to water. The main competitor is Crystal Light, with over 60% share and a media spend over $5.5 million. Tetley needed to take share from Crystal Light, and they needed to do it right because they’d tried before. Tetley Infusions had launched in spring 2009 featuring no artificial sweeteners, colours, flavours or preservatives. At the end of the campaign, Tetley had just a 4% dollar share, and this would not be enough to sustain distribution. A 10% share by September 2010 was essential for survival.
Strategy & Insight: A proprietary study identified the target as the “All About Me” female segment. This woman loves a good shortcut, is highly image-conscious and is committed to cultivating her personal brand. Her repertoire is filled with low-cal products that keep her svelte, and Crystal Light (with its “Water need not be boring” equity) is nestled close to this woman’s heart. To her, adding artificially sweetened powder to her water was perfectly acceptable and even a little glam with its exotic flavours and upbeat creative. Suddenly, a provocative new thought was born – to draw a parallel between the addictive qualities of Crystal Light and those of other not-so-good-for-you substances.
Execution: The campaign was called “Break the Habit” and ran in Summer 2010. It was a play on the anti-smoking ads from the ’80s, with an unsubtle allusion to unhealthy vices. While seen as risky, it was brought to life in a tongue-in-cheek way so that the target would not only get the joke, but also the message behind it. TV used confessions from former powder addicts who had switched to Tetley Infusions. Print mimicked “Break The Habit” ads, stubbing out a stick of crystal powder as if it were a cigarette butt.
Results: By the end of the campaign (September 2010), Tetley Infusions had a 14% dollar volume share of single-serve iced tea drink mixes. Shipments were up 60% over the campaign time frame.
Cause & Effect: Millward Brown research of the TV creative foreshadowed the in-market results, with top-two-box purchase intent at 62 vs. a norm of 40. Media spend levels were in line with year-ago, as were pricing, distribution, sampling and in-store support.
Credits:
Tetley Canada/TATA Global Beverages
president: Stephen Rice; director of marketing: Michelle Faris; brand manager: Aleem Visram
John St.
CDs: Angus Tucker, Stephen Jurisic; ACDs: Chris Hirsch, Nellie Kim; AD: Marcella Coad; writer: Chris Booth; agency producer: Dale Giffen; account service: Rena Bast; agency producer, print: Marietta Sterman
Partners
production house: Soft Citizen; director: Brian Aldrich; line producer: Tony Diimarco; DOP: Marc Laliberte-Else; editorial: Brian Williams, PosterBoy; audio house: Vapor Music; audio director: Joey Serlin
