Sippin' Pretty

Boulder, CO -- With new packaging that modernizes and unifies the brand, category leader Celestial Seasonings, a division of Hain Celestial Group, hopes to attract younger tea drinkers and redefine its space in the now-crowded specialty tea category. The new packages began rolling out to grocery stores nationwide in July 2007 and are replacing old boxes on a flow-through basis.The new look, managed by the Sterling Group, New York, marks the first major redesign since the brand's founding in 1969. The redesign responds to consumer research, which indicated that shoppers wanted simplicity in the tea category. A corresponding national print campaign has dropped in a variety of magazines, including The New Yorker, Real Simple and Food & Wine, and will run through April. The brand tested supporting P-O-P and outdoor advertising in Boston throughout December and January. Advertising agency TDA, Boulder, CO, designed and produced the materials.In Boston, Celestial Seasonings tested 2,000 shopping cart ads and 236 floor clings. The 18-by-24-inch vinyl floor clings, which carry messages about the teas' natural ingredients and antioxidant benefits, appear in the tea aisle as well as the produce and supplement aisles of 118 Boston supermarkets. Plastic shopping cart ads ran in 192 stores.The influx of new brands and flavors in recent years, coupled with media hype about the health benefits of different types of teas, has made choosing tea more confusing, says senior product manager Matt Sungy. "Ten or 15 years ago, the tea shelf had anywhere from 50 to 75 different brands. Today, the average tea shelf in a supermarket has around 130 items, and there are even more in natural foods stores." The new packaging features a consistent Celestial Seasonings logo -- a major change from the brand's former boxes, which carried the brand name in various colors and sizes. Although some artwork, like the iconic Sleepytime bear, remains the same, new artwork on many of the boxes highlights flavor elements like ripe peaches or raspberries, and exotic images depicting the teas' countries of origin. Colored bands around the tops of the boxes identify tea varieties like green tea, white tea, black tea or chai.The new look also aims to attract younger consumers, Sungy says. "At Celestial Seasonings, ages 25 to 55 is what we consider our target audience. Over the years, we've gotten to 35 through 55-plus, and we wanted to bring in the younger users." The new packaging addresses issues that are important to today's consumers. Seals printed on the back announce the messages "Ethical Trade" and "Blended in Boulder." The print ads tout the health benefits of tea as well as messages about the brand's social responsibility and environmentally friendly practices.The varied messages help Celestial Seasonings compete with the broad variety of new tea brands on the market, says Sungy. "Some were positioning themselves as green, socially responsible companies; some were concentrated on flavors; some were focused on a hip and trendy image." Following the test, Celestial Seasonings will compare sales in Boston with other markets to evaluate the campaign's effectiveness. If the company chooses to expand in-store and outdoor advertising to other markets, it will probably wait until the next tea season begins in the fall.

Sippin' Pretty

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