Honest Tea®
Campus Campaign Executive Summary
Raymond Andruszko
Anthony Cerrone
Matthew Chylak
Kimberly Condino
Jacob Nussbaum
Rachel Pattison
Company
Honest Tea is a healthy, organic bottled beverage committed to both sustainability and
great taste. Founded in 1998, the company was the brainchild of Yale School of Management
student Seth Goldman and his professor Barry Nalebuff. Frustrated by the lack of thirstquenching drinks on the market, the two took a straightforward approach to create an honest
beverage. Their mission statement explains that they “create and promote great-tasting, truly
healthy, organic beverages” while growing their business “with the same honesty and integrity
we use to craft our products, with sustainability great taste for all.”1 The company followed this
mission when it was the first to create bottled iced tea from real tea leaves without additives and
preservatives. Even after their 2011 takeover by the Coca Cola Company, Honest Tea has
remained true to their original strategy and refrained from traditional advertising media. While
this strategy was responsible for an impressive pattern of growth, Honest Tea must target a
younger demographic to maintain its position as a growing player in the beverage market.
Marketing Objective
According to the company’s original 1998 business plan, the target Honest Tea customer
segment is 60% male and 40% female, ranges in age from 30 to 65, and has an average age of
42.2 With the expanded distribution network afforded by their new parent company, it is
possible to grow sales by targeting a younger consumer. The business plan also described the
target customer as an individual who “seeks out authentic products and is attuned to global and
environmental issues.”3 We believe that in today’s market, this also includes a significant group
of well-educated, college-age consumers. Our marketing objective is to grow sales by 400%
in 12 months within the segment of Honest Tea consumers between the ages of 18 and 25.
Background Research and Marketing Strategy
The marketing and advertising strategies presented in this discussion are informed by a
series of initial focus groups with college students and a subsequent survey that measured brand
awareness. While a majority of the students participating in the focus groups were aware of
Honest Tea’s existence, few were familiar with the brand’s social and environmental message
and comparatively healthy product. The clear consensus among all participants that this
knowledge increased their desire to try the product was the first sign that this target market could
be an area to grow sales.
With this information in mind, we constructed a survey to measure brand awareness.
Completed by 68 college students who were not focus group participants, the survey confirmed
that this group is responsive to Honest Tea’s brand image and message. 64.81% of the
participants who had heard of Honest Tea before taking the survey had also tried the product,
and nearly 60% consume bottled tea or iced tea with at least some regularity. Once informed
about the brand, nearly 50% said they would be likely to purchase Honest Tea, over 30% would
consider purchasing Honest Tea, and fewer than 20% would not consider purchasing Honest
1 “Our Mission,” Honest Tea, http://www.honesttea.com/mission/about/overview/. 2 Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff, “Business Plan for 1999, December 1998,” Honest Tea, http://www.honesttea.com/objects/pdf/Honest_Tea_Business_Plan_98.pdf, p. 11. 3 Ibid., p 4 Tea. Our marketing strategy is to target college-age consumers though on-campus
advertising, increasing Honest Tea’s sales by improving brand awareness.
Advertising Objective
The company has not ventured into traditional media, including television commercials
and print advertising. Instead, they have endorsed a more personal way of spreading its
message. Any forays into these new media must remain aligned with the company’s truthful,
energetic, and individual message. This advertising campaign will attempt to convey the
differentiating characteristics that make Honest Tea appealing to this new target customer over
other drinks while remaining true to the values and priorities championed by the company.
Consumers should not only be aware of Honest Tea’s existence but also of its status as a socially
responsible company with environmentally friendly and healthy products. Our advertising
objective is to remain true to the principles that fueled Honest Tea’s initial growth while
targeting this new, younger segment and communicating the product’s health and
environmental benefits.
Advertising Strategy
The Honest Campus campaign aims to utilize the techniques of guerilla marketing and
targeted “buzz” generation that has been successful in the past. Honest Tea already has a strong
social media presence, and outdoor poster advertisements will be effective in increasing
consumer interaction in this arena. This traditional advertising media will be a first for Honest
Tea, so it must capture the brand’s essence, image, and priorities. Our advertising strategy, the
Honest Campus campaign, involves forms of “direct message”, interaction with the target
consumers on and around their home field: the college campus.
The Honest Campus campaign will be carried out in three phases:
1. Interactive Advertising: These poster, outdoor, print, and visual advertisements will be
ubiquitous near college campuses, both raising brand awareness and increasing interaction
with Honest Tea’s social media efforts. Featuring an Honest Tea bottle, the question “How
honest is your campus?,” and links to their social media pages (including a QR code), the
advertisements will direct students to the company website. They will be able to share their
own examples of how their campus is honest, with a buy-one-get-one-free Honest Tea
coupon as the reward, and view responses from students across the country. These could be
stories of a returned wallet, individual work instead of cheating, or anything else that these
new customers deem exemplary of honesty. Exhibit B details the specific media, timing,
and locations of these advertisements. This interactive strategy will be particularly helpful
for Honest Tea in gaining new followers on Twitter and “likes” on Facebook, furthering the
increase in brand awareness.
2. The Honest Campus Competition: This phase will draw from the highly successful Honest
Cities campaign of July 2011. In this guerilla marketing effort, un-manned kiosks selling
Honest Tea were assembled in 12 cities across the country. Customers were asked to pay $1
for each bottle of Honest Tea they took, but there was no enforcement. A hidden camera
recorded the results, which were presented online in the form of a competition to determine
the most honest city in America. While these efforts did not include any paid advertisement
or promotion, they were covered by several news outlets and were highly successful in
generating buzz and increasing brand awareness.
In the Honest Campus competition, similar pop-up stores will be assembled on 12 colleges
around the country. The event will be promoted on Honest Tea’s Twitter and Facebook
pages, and the participating colleges will have the chance to compete for the title of the most
honest campus.
3. “Take-One-Give-One” Events: With the goal of increasing exposure to Honest Tea in as
many locations as possible, these give-away events will take place on college campuses that
were not Honest Campus competition sites. Unlike a traditional giveaway, students will be
given two bottles of Honest Tea, but only on the condition that they promise to give the
second to a friend. This commitment not only doubles the exposure and effectiveness of the
promotion, but it also resonates with the brand’s priorities, its image, and, most importantly,
its name.
Conclusion
The Honest Campus campaign aims to utilize channels that reflect the brand’s personality
and priorities and specifically target college campuses. While printed poster advertisements do
represent a physical departure from past strategies, the message they convey is consistent with
the company’s message. The Honest Campus competition, the take-one-give-one events, and the
interactive posters all convey the straightforward attitude that governs the company, influences
its decision-making, and informs its production choices. In addition to before and after measures
of sales, the success of this campaign can also be measured by the engagement with Honest
Tea’s social media. More “likes” on Facebook and followers on Twitter will indicate the
successful raising of brand awareness and engaging of new consumers. By raising awareness of
Honest Tea among this younger group of consumers with shared values, the company can
increase sales among customers between the ages of 18-25 by 400% in 12 months.
Specific Class Learning Cited:
-Evaluating Advertising: using social media to compare ‘pre’ and ‘post’ engagement.
-Generating Buzz: additional level of engagement compared to traditional outdoor advertising
builds momentum and anticipation. The advertising is simple and has clear brand recognition.
-Target Consumer: this group does not represent all of Honest Tea’s customers, but advertising
directed at them aims to increase sales within this category.
-Differentiating Strategy: the focus of this campaign is what makes Honest Tea better and
different. The product is truly the hero.
Exhibit A: The Creative Brief
1. What do consumers think the brand stands for?
Our marketing research indicates that consumers associate the Honest Tea name with
adjectives like fresh, healthy, organic, pure, and tasty. The brand identity also represents
honesty, authenticity, and trust. Some focus group participants were already aware of the
brand’s associations with “fair trade” and “healthy ingredients.” This research also revealed
a general consensus that the product is a refreshing, soothing means of hydration, despite
some criticism that it is too expensive or gives off a “hippie” vibe.
2. What do we want brand equity to stand for?
The Honest Tea brand must continue to represent a straightforward approach to creating a
healthy product with healthy practices. As explained in the company’s mission statement,
“Honest Tea seeks to create and promote great-tasting, truly healthy, organic beverages” and
attempts to conduct business with “the same honesty and integrity we use to craft our
products, with sustainability great taste for all.”4
3. Who is the competition and what do they stand for in the market?
Other bottled teas represent Honest Tea’s main competition. Our research indicated that topof-mind competitors include Snapple, Nestea, Arizona, and Lipton Iced Teas. In addition,
Brisk, SoBe, Tazo, Gold Peak, Arnold Palmer, and regional offerings like Wawa and Turkey
Hill brands are within the competitive frame. This competition tends to compete solely on
taste and lacks the health and social benefits promoted by Honest Tea.
4. What is important to know about the consumer?
Honest Tea’s original target consumers were men and women between 30 and 65 years old,
likely to have graduated college or have an advanced degree, and interested in running,
hiking, or healthy outdoor activities. Even as the target age changes, it is important that the
value of healthy ingredients and commitment to sustainability is consistent. Our preliminary
research showed that consumers aware of these characteristics were 47.76% more likely to
try Honest Tea.
5. What is the Marketing Objective?
Our marketing objective is to grow sales by 400% in 12 months within the segment of
Honest Tea consumers between the ages of 18 and 25.
6. What else should we consider?
An advertising strategy must remain consistent with Honest Tea’s commitment to a
straightforward approach, which in the past has not included significant paid media.
4 “Our Mission,” Honest Tea, http://www.honesttea.com/mission/about/overview/. 7. Advertising Goal/Role of Advertising
Our advertising objective is to remain true to the principles that fueled Honest Tea’s initial
growth while targeting this new, younger segment and communicating the product’s health
and environmental benefits.
8. What is the overall impression that advertising should leave with the consumer to achieve
the objectives?
To the young consumer pursuing an active and healthy lifestyle, Honest Tea is the greattasting, bottled-organic tea made from all natural ingredients through socially and
environmentally conscious practices.
9. What’s our single-minded promise/consumer benefit to create the impression you want to
leave with the consumer
Compared to other bottled beverages, Honest Tea is better tasting, better for you, better for
the environment, and better for society.
10. What could support the promise/consumer benefit?
Honest Tea brews its beverages with real tea leaves, has low sugar content, is organic, and
does not contain artificial sweeteners or preservatives. In addition, Honest Tea is committed
to equity and became Fair Trade Certified in 2003. The Honest Tea bottle 22% lighter, fully
recyclable, and the company also partners with the National Forest Campaign in their Bag of
Tree reforest campaign across the country.
11. Statement of the Advertising Idea for Prove/Preferred campaign adaptations?
The Honest Campus campaign will draw upon the past strategies that have proven successful
in increasing brand awareness and communicating the product’s values. Younger consumers
will be targeted in three stages:
1. Interactive Advertising. Posters and outdoor advertising will direct students to
Honest Tea’s social media outlets, where they will be invited to share examples of
how their campus is honest in exchange for a buy-one-get-one-free Honest Tea
coupon.
2. The Honest Campus Competition. Like the highly successful Honest Cities
guerilla marketing campaign, this will allow college campuses to compete for the
title of the most honest campus. Hidden cameras will monitor un-manned pop-up
stores selling Honest Tea on each campus, and the percentage of beverages that are
paid for will reflect how honest that campus is.
3. “Take-One-Give-One” Events. Students will be given a free bottle of Honest Tea
with the promise that they will give a second bottle to a friend, doubling the
effectiveness of the promotion and communicating the brand’s value of honesty.
Exhibit B: Media Plan
Our marketing strategy involves a comprehensive range of media that reaches our target demographic at
key times during the school year. The media plan is focused around the school schedule because this is the portion
of the year when Honest Tea can target the largest concentration of the target consumer base. The media list
includes print (half page) in the student newspaper, outdoor (billboards, posters, recycling bins), ambient (car wrap,
gym stairs), point of purchase (floor decals, shelving ads), promotional (community clean-up, recycling drive, yoga
clinic, honest campus campaign), and web (coupons via e-mail and Grubhub). The wide range of adverting types
will allow Honest Tea to maximize its brand exposure on campus. Since many college students do not have cars, the
billboards will target students when they move-in during August and move-out during April and May. The media
plan concentrates the outdoor portions of the timeline during warmer periods when larger portions of the student
bodies will be outdoors. Moreover, the plan concentrates the more expensive forms of advertising including point of
purchase and coupons during the time periods after summer and winter break. Attracting students’ attention at the
beginning of the semester will influence their decision-making during the following months. The ambient
advertising will focus on a car wrap during the warmer months in Q3 and Q4. In addition, the plan includes a stair
advertisement in the campus gym during the months between winter break and spring break. This period is when the
gym is most heavily trafficked as students attempt to live healthier lifestyles due to winter resolutions and beach
season. The promotional campaigns focus on the company values and those of its CEO, Seth Goldman. These events
will be evenly spaced out throughout the school year with the indoor events occurring during the winter months and
the outdoor events occurring during warmer periods. Lastly, the advertising in campus newspapers would be utilized
during the winter months to maintain brand awareness when students are less likely to see the other types of
advertisement.
Timeline
Campaign will begin in the Third Fiscal Quarter of 2011
Fiscal Quarters
Q3
July
Print Media
1/2 Page Newspaper
Outdoor
Billboards
Posters
Recycling Bins
Ambient
Car Wrap
Staircase Ad
Point of Purchase
Floor Decals
Shelving Ads
Promotional
Honest Campus Campaign
Community Clean-­‐up
Recycling Drive
Yoga
Web
E-­‐mail Coupon
Grubhub Coupon
August
September
Q4
October
November December
Q1
January
February
March
Q2
April
May
June