Tiesta Tea: Branding Function
US
Tiesta Tea is built on a concept of branding that is directly opposite that of the tea industry norm. Rather than brand the company product, it brands its function. This is its founders’ reaction against the confusion of the specialty tea market, with so many varieties of stores, names, and origins, “absurd” prices, too much jargon and “stereotypes of stuffy tea parties.”
“Finding the right tea should be simple: what will it do for me and what does it taste like. By focusing on function and flavor, we make tea approachable and easy to understand. We created five functional categories based on the health benefits that each blend naturally gives you.”
The Tiesta site highlights the focus in the branding on the buying process. The opening two pages send a clear message here:
FIND YOUR FUNCTION. PICK YOUR FLAVOR and SHOP BY FUNCTION Energizer Slenderizer Eternity Immunity Relaxer
By organizing the individual products within these brand categories, Tiesta makes it easy to browse a wide range of very different choices Here, for example, is the Energizer summary and examples of blends from its list of nine: “Our Energizer blends contain black and mate teas, which help you deal with fatigue by giving you an added mental and physical boost”: Black Chai Tropical, Passion Berry Jolt, and Earl Grey de la Crème. Eternity blends “contain herbal, white and green teas with an abundance of superfruits for an antioxidant boost” and include Blueberry Wild Child and Citrus Detox.
One major impact of the functional branding has been that Tiesta targets grocery stores in its distribution. This fits into its easy to find focus and attracting the average consumer to fine loose tea rather than the educated specialty tea customer.
The company’s revenues have grown substantially, albeit from a small base. Sales increased from $1.9 million in 2014 to $7.9 in 2018. Its teas are sold by 7,500 retailers and it is expanding its ready to drink bottled tea, which Target made an exclusive, into eateries. The five types will, of course, be branded by function.