Starpack Tea and Coffee: Market research

I have decided to create a range of teas for the brief instead of coffee. Reasons for this was the response to the survey I conducted where more people said they preferred tea, as well as my own personal preference. I feel that as I prefer tea I will be more interested in the brief and able to produce a better outcome.

I have begun to research existing brands and chose not only to look at luxury, high end companies but also popular lower end brands. In this way I can get a broader, more holistic understanding of existing brands/companies and how they sell themselves. By looking at their unique selling points I can choose which aspects to research further and potentially use as selling points for my own brand.

Existing brands

(Low end)
Twinings
Twinings is one of the biggest companies in tea in the world. Part of their USP is their rich history dating back to 1684. They have the oldest brand logo in use in Britain (dating back to 1787) and are affiliated with the Royal Family, again adding to their unique traditional advantage. They are also a family company, ten generations of the Twining family have remained running the brand.



Clipper 
Clipper is a relatively new brand, arriving in supermarkets in 1996.  Their slogan is 'natural, fair and delicious', meaning that as part of their USP they concentrate on where the tea comes from. They were the first UK tea company to become Fairtrade - adding to their mantra of 'It's what's on the inside that counts'. 
As well as this ethical standpoint they use unbleached teabags and only use natural flavourings. 


(High end)
Whittard of Chelsea
Similarly to Twinings, Whittard's USP focuses on tradition and history, however in this case the brand was built on buying the 'best'. It is a high end brand and has a much higher price point.

T2
In contrast to the other tea brands mentioned, T2 is a tea brand of Australian origin as opposed to UK. The story of the brand repeatedly mentions 'a tea revolution' and the aesthetic and audience of the brand reflect this. By experimenting with new tea flavours, the brand has brought in a variety of customers (they mention artists, students, hipsters, musicians, backpackers - all of who could be seen as a fairly modern, young audience.)

The style of T2 really speaks to me. The young and fun vibe is portrayed through the design of the packaging as well as the names of tea blends, and even extends to within store, where the black walls are stacked with colourful boxes and tins.  

T2 also have an extensive range of flavours that could be said to be unusual and experimental and seeing as the responses from the survey were swayed in favour of experimental flavours as opposed to more traditional ones, the brand is definitely something I can draw inspiration from.