The Road to the No.1 Tea Brand

The tea category was in decline. PG Tips, Tetley, and Typhoo, with little advertising or product innovation, were losing relevance along with the overall market decline. By contrast, Yorkshire Tea was very much an outlying brand. A family business that had nurtured a progressive culture around “doing things proper”, an infectious belief to anyone who encounters their business, challenged us to make them number one.

Identifying an audience that prefers premium brands and isn’t swayed by promotions, we needed to bring them to Yorkshire Tea and get them hooked. Using our planning construct, Braver by Design, we balanced hard-working line-and-length TV plans with inventive award-winning ideas. Dynamic radio campaigns, VR campaigns educating children about the importance of trees, and national cricket tea-making competitions have all contributed to both business and brand growth.

From 2015 to 2019, tea market penetration declined from 88.6% to 86.4%; however, Yorkshire Tea increased by over 3%, and value sales rose from £70.9 million to £93.6 million. That is 1.1 million more Yorkshire Tea drinkers! Yorkshire Tea’s long-term ROI stands at £4 for every £1 spent, and our innovative work has won us the Media Week Long-Term Strategy Award in 2020 and two IPA Effectiveness Awards. Yorkshire Tea continues to remain the nation’s favourite brew.