In 2011, Coca-Cola acquired Honest Tea—a small, but rapidly growing brand. Like many ambitious companies who’ve attracted high-powered benefactors, Honest Tea began to ask itself: “So, how do we become a billion-dollar brand?” It was around this time that Ami Mathur, currently general manager and head of marketing, joined Honest Tea. To scale the brand, she knew that it would need to win over mass-market audiences. Honest Tea had fared very well at Whole Foods Market and was growing in mainstream grocery stores, but the team knew it had the potential to grow faster.
“From our initial research, we knew that our value proposition wasn’t resonating with mass audiences. Honest Tea wasn’t viewed as delicious, which is a problem in a category where taste is absolutely the most important factor. The fact that it’s organic, while important, wasn’t the driving force for mainstream consumers. Additionally, from a shelf standpoint, the packaging didn’t really pop or persuade consumers to choose Honest Tea over competitors,” explained Mathur.
Despite Coca-Cola’s investment, Honest Tea was still relatively small with a proportionately-sized marketing budget. “When you have very few media dollars to spend, packaging can be the main way to drive awareness and stopping power. Most of us know how much a great package can actually impact your sales, but no one usually puts a number to it,” said Mathur.
