Amy Blunden [ design journal ]

Abstract

In this research paper, a strong case for rebranding Teavana will be made. Teavana is currently a leader in the beverage industry, but its image as a heaven of tea isn’t being communicated by its present brand. The industry competition includes Harney & Sons, The Republic of Tea, Tazo and Numi. Preemptive rebranding would help reposition Teavana and prevent competition from dominating expanding tea markets, like bottled and bagged teas. These new markets give Teavana a great opportunity to increase its audience and gain exposure in new areas. The audience, once dominated by middle-aged and older women, has been expanding exponentially, due largely in part to ready-to-drink teas. This increased exposure, in conjunction with a strategic rebranding effort and multi-media campaign, will assure Teavana’s image is elevated to the heavenly status it denotes and deserves. The rebranding effort will include a new, emotive logotype, a redesigned trademark symbol, an intuitive website and engaging promotional materials. All of these deliverables will assist in Teavana’s pervasive mission, to facilitate bliss. This campaign centers around creating blissful experiences for the audience and communicating bliss, relaxation and peace at every opportunity. The Teavana store will be redesigned, conceptually, however the architectural and interior design specifications fall outside the reach of this campaign. The industry setting and state of the world are precisely positioned for Teavana to make a huge splash in new markets, revitalize their image and communicate bliss. Teavana is ready to facilitate bliss, and the world is ready to sip it.

A Case for Rebranding Teavana

Teavana is a leader in the tea and beverage industry, and their “goal is to be a heaven of tea.” Teavana began with a dream that was “part Tea Bar, part Tea Emporium,” and their name was intended to “describe the experience each customer has” with their tea and staff. The first Teavana store opened in Atlanta, Georgia, and they now have more than 200 locations in the U.S. and Mexico (Teavana, 2013).

Teavana’s mission is “toprovide fresh, high quality teas and the products to serve them. And to create a unique tea experience in each store by encouraging a positive, healthy outlook for all who enter” (Teavana, 2013).

While Teavana has enjoyed much success and is an industry leader, their brand execution could be much better. There aren’t many corporate tea stores in the U.S., so there isn’t much competition doing it the way they are. However, this leaves them in a vulnerable position if new and more appealing competitors were to enter the market. They’re also not achieving the pinnacle experience they proclaim, and that is a huge issue.

This research paper explores the ways in which Teavana can become a beverage mecca that emanates and facilitates bliss. With precise rebranding, including a logo, website, store design and promotional materials, Teavana can be repositioned in the as utterly blissful. This multi-media campaign will effectively communicate this blissful feeling to the intended audience.

The industry setting for Teavana is quite exciting, because tea is in a great phase of expansion, due to increasing ready-to-drink varieties, specialty teas and tea-infused topical products. The tea industry has generally been increasing over the past decade, with ready-to-drink tea sales increasing “by more than 17.5 times” (The Tea Association of the USA, 2011). This industry expects increased growth over the next five years in all tea sectors, which will be “driven by convenience, interest in the healthy properties of tea, and by the continued discovery of Specialty Tea” (The Tea Association of the USA, 2011).

Bagged tea dominates the market with more than 65% of the share, ready-to-drink and iced tea mix accounts for about one fourth, with loose and instant varieties making up the rest. Next to water, tea is the most-consumed beverage in the world, and 85% of tea consumed in the U.S. is iced.  2011 marked the 20th year in a row that tea sales increased, making this a very promising industry with ever-expanding possibilities.

Tea can be found in cosmetics, supplements, juices, chocolate bars and chewing gum. We can also expect the “emergence of a new category of tea products. Tea infused waters and tea energy drinks” (Simrany, 2012).

While there are some big competitors in the caffeinated beverage world, Teavana is in a unique position in the category of tea stores. Because specialized teashops tend to be small, local businesses, Teavana is in a prime position to reinvent itself and make a huge impact in the tea industry. Because this multi-media campaign includes expanded product line packaging (boxed and bottled teas), it’s quite relevant to focus on this expanded area of the competition, when looking at the state of the industry.

Teavana’s competitors include Harney & Sons, The Republic of Tea, Tazo and Numi. Harney & Sons is one of the most popular brands of packaged tea, and it appeals to traditional tea drinkers as well as more sophisticated specialty tea aficionados. The Republic of Tea has a really strong, upbeat brand and a huge following of healthy tea drinkers. Tazo holds considerable industry weight, as they are the exclusive tea sold by Starbucks. Numi has a great image and high-quality products- specializing in organic, fair-trade teas.

Teavana is a leader in the tea and beverage industry, and their “goal is to be a heaven of tea.” Teavana began with a dream that was “part Tea Bar, part Tea Emporium,” and their name was intended to “describe the experience each customer has” with their tea and staff. The first Teavana store opened in Atlanta, Georgia, and they now have more than 200 locations in the U.S. and Mexico (Teavana, 2013).

Teavana’s mission is “toprovide fresh, high quality teas and the products to serve them. And to create a unique tea experience in each store by encouraging a positive, healthy outlook for all who enter” (Teavana, 2013). Teavana is about more than just a good cup of tea- it’s about creating an invigorating, blissful experience for their audience. Consumers should leave Teavana feeling relaxed, satiated, clear and blissful.

Teavana’s audience is wide and varied. While middle-aged and older women used to dominate the tea market, due to bottled and iced varieties, tea has seen surges in other markets, including young men, ages 14-30.

While Teavana has enjoyed much success and is an industry leader, their brand execution could be much better. There aren’t many corporate tea stores in the U.S., so there isn’t much competition doing it the way they are. However, this leaves them in a vulnerable position if new and more appealing competitors were to enter the market. They’re also not achieving the pinnacle experience they proclaim, and that is a huge issue.

Teavana’s current logotype utilizes big, bold, all-caps lettering, which isn’t really doing their blissful brand justice. The font is definitely noticeable, but too imposing and strong for their serene image, because “all-uppercase text feels official and strong. It might serve as a good choice for businesses that want to evoke authority through their logos in the marketplace” (Fine, n.d.). Teavana is not aiming for an authoritative or

The trademark symbol accompanying Teavana’s logotype is great in concept, but could be better in execution. The image depicts a person sitting in the lotus meditation position, holding a cup of tea in their lap. While a person meditating with tea does exhibit the brand essence, the rendering appears slightly awkward. The limbs are slightly bulbous, and they are intentionally uneven. The limbs seem like they may have been manipulated from a yin-yang, which seems great conceptually, but overall, the symbol could be stronger and clearer. Due to the awkward limbs and placement of the cup and head, this symbol also could be interpreted to be the head of a woman, with the cup being the mouth. There should be no room for confusion or misinterpretation in this symbol. The color choice and placement in the symbol could also fit their brand better.

On Teavana’s website, there are some additional typographic concerns.  They apply a somewhat cliché cloud fill on their logotype, which looks a little tacky and inconsistent with the print version of the logo. The choice in typefaces could also be more serene and harmonize better with one another. The site structure could use some work in order to be more simple, organized and intuitive. The navigation also uses a wide variety of colors and images, which appear somewhat overwhelming. The images do not aid the audience to understand or navigate in any way, so they should be eliminated or replaced. Simple, intuitive navigation is paramount, “because global navigation, if well positioned, will be the first place users go” (The Smashing Team, 2011). In general, the home page seems overly packed with images and information, which could be reduced to create a more peaceful online experience.

While Teavana has achieved considerable retail success, they are certainly missing out on many of the burgeoning new tea markets. Currently, Teavana does not produce either ready-to-drink teas or bagged teas. These are two huge areas for growth, especially considering the amount of third-party vendors that could become wholesale buyers.

Promotional materials for Teavana are slim, so this is one area for considerable improvement. Consistent, branded posters, ads and freebies (wallpapers, screensavers, etc.) could increase brand exposure and aid in overall satisfaction.

Teavana’s retail locations don’t exactly live up to their name. Their stores are small and stuffy, adorned with seemingly overpriced tea accessories. This doesn’t sound anything close to relaxing or blissful. So, in order for the rebranding to be truly successful, a store redesign must be included to help facilitate experiences of bliss.

One of the most effective solutions for Teavana’s image would be redesigning their logotype. Rather than big, imposing capital letters, a softer type treatment would help communicate their message of bliss. Something with a flowing, handwritten feeling could really take their logotype to the next level. This may include an elegant, relaxed font or custom typography. The custom typography would be a handwritten logotype, which may include calligraphy, marker or brush strokes. These demonstrative styles would help achieve a truly authentic and emotive logotype. Handwriting, because it is unique, “has a tremendous expressive power a standard lettering isn’t able to achieve” (Friedman, 2008).

While the concept for Teavana’s trademark symbol is strong, the rendering could be less ambiguous, more simple and symmetrical. This could be achieved through more naturally proportioned limbs, more appropriate use of color and making the symbol vertically symmetrical. Orange may be a bit juicier than the Teavana brand, and something more soothing might be a better fit. Energizing shades of blue, and perhaps some purple, will trigger relaxation and calming in the audience, because “blue is also associated with peace, and has spiritual and religious connotations in many cultures and traditions” (Chapman, 2010).

Another solution to make the symbol stronger could be using negative space to depict the person meditating with tea, and using a circular or shaped background upon which the symbol will pop.

In order to make Teavana’s logotype on their website in line with the rest of their brand, the cloud fill should be eliminated. Their logotype should be the same as in the rest of their material, to help reiterate their brand. One font family should be chosen for the body copy, navigation and general site text. That way, many varieties of type can be used, but they will all be cohesive and complement one another. Aaux Pro could be an effective solution, because it has a nice variety in stroke widths. Additionally, all the fonts in this family are quite legible, due to their tall x-height. That makes for great readability, because, “typefaces with a relatively large x-height tend to be more readable, especially at smaller sizes” (Yates, 2013). Clean, easy-to-read fonts definitely make reading a blissful experience, which is central to Teavana’s mission.

The fonts used in their web ads could be different, depending on the ad, but it should fit harmoniously with the rest of the type on the page. Website typography is critical, and in fact, “for 99% of the designs out there, typography and white space are going to be your underlying foundation. So if you can’t get them right, then the rest of your design has nothing to stand on” (Scrivens, 2012).

Teavana’s website redesign definitely needs easy-to-read type and white space, which it is currently low on. The navigation icons should be eliminated, because they don’t serve to aid in navigation and only serve to confuse the audience (as to their purpose) and clutter the page. While the variety of color on their site is vibrant and inviting, the placement of these colors could be more appropriate to identify important content and also lead the reader’s eye around the page. In general, Teavana’s website is cluttered and difficult to navigate. More intuitive site structure, navigation, link names and white space would help streamline and simplify the web experience for the user.

There are many untapped markets for Teavana to carve out a presence in, including ready-to-drink teas and bagged teas. These are new products and new markets that hold much potential for growth. The ready-to-drink tea trend promises to expand Teavana into younger markets, and both bottled and boxed varieties could be sold in grocery stores and by third-party vendors.

Because promotional materials for Teavana are few, this is a big area for improvement and exposure. Promotional materials for this campaign will include branded posters, advertisements and digital freebies, like wallpapers and screensavers. The addition of these promotional pieces should certainly increase brand exposure for Teavana. Imagery for promotional materials will include tea and bliss-related illustrations and people living bliss-fueled lives. People will identify with that because in our increasingly stressful world, we all want to feel bliss. 

In addition to the rebranding effort, the Teavana store could also use a facelift. While construction and remodeling are outside of the traditional media design framework, the rebranding work could easily be applied to a physical store. For this campaign, a simple store mock-up will be included. The new Teavana retail locations will be warm, inviting, spacious, relaxing and blissful.

In conclusion, a rebranding effort for Teavana would be incredibly effective in elevating their image to a beverage mecca that facilitates bliss. This multi-media campaign will speak to the audience, using an emotive logotype, a user-friendly website, a welcoming storefront and promotional materials. The handwritten logotype will humanize Teavana’s image and add authenticity in the mind of the audience, and a re-envisioned trademark symbol will eliminate ambiguity and drive home the core message of bliss.

This campaign will utilize preemptive design to expand into new markets, reach Teavana’s expanding audience and reposition their brand as truly blissful in the minds of their consumers. This message will be invigorating and unique, and it will set them apart from the competition in an ever-expanding world of tea. Bottled and bagged teas will bring Teavana to new markets and expand their audience, as well as give the competition a run for their money.

Bliss needs to happen in every interaction. Every customer touch-point should be pleasant and peaceful. This starts with a more human feeling in their logotype, continues when they pick up engaging packaging, culminates in an exalted tea experience and reverberates long after the last sip.

Bliss affects people in a myriad of ways. It gives them the emotional fuel they need to power their fast-paced lives. Bliss allows people to engage each other in kind, compassionate ways. When people feel serene and satiated, they approach every detail in their life with new eyes. It’s time for a beverage revolution. It’s time for the world to sip their bliss.