In a market saturated with sugary artificial drinks, one company saw the need for a tasty yet simple alternative. Sound Tea was thus created: a high quality organic bubbly tea with no sweeteners or preservatives. When co-founder Tommy Kelly wanted an unsweetened refreshing drink he set out on a mission to create the ultimate sparkling water tea combo. Their transparent business philosophy has consumers rest assured that they are drinking only pure and simple ingredients as nature intended. Our team took some time to analyze the branding and design strategy behind this appealing beverage in this edition of Brand of the Week.
“I think it would be really interesting if Sound Tea explored the concept of what ‘Sound’ tea is in a creative video. I picture Sound Tea’s bottles on matching color backgrounds with the teas being opened one by one, capturing the unique sound of the bottles—especially if the brand name stems from the sparkling, carbonation element that makes it stand out from other teas. It would also be really cool to have the visuals and sounds matched to the beat of an upbeat electronic or pop song with a lot of great drum sounds!” – Zoe
“Sound Tea doesn’t have any added sugar—a key product differentiator to their tea competitors. They leverage the #LessIsEnough hashtag throughout their website and social media, which is a creative brand position, but they could do more to expand the campaign. For customers who may not be familiar with their ingredients, they may not understand what makes this product great. What is “less” about Sound Tea? Is this a good thing? The idea of using the most basic, natural ingredients to make tea aligns their brand and packaging as well, but promoting a larger #LessIsEnough campaign would clarify their stance in the market.” – Hannah
“The simplistic label of the Sound Tea packaging clearly sets it apart from the other natural teas and drinks that you see on the shelves. Unlike competitors who are cluttered with images of ingredients and illustrative labels, the Sound Tea packaging is clean and crisp—just like its ingredients and taste. Although some may look at the label and see a missed opportunity to prop up the short ingredients list that makes Sound Tea such a great option, I see the Sound Tea label as a cool modern twist that stands out among its competitors.” – Kendall
“For product expansion or entering a new market, Sound Tea should consider a 6-month campaign strategy to support existing audiences and goals to expand outside of the Northeast. Their external channels should consider some new market video and information graphics on their site, combined with a targeted series of stage-based emails, organic social and some paid. It’s amazing how targeted you can get on Facebook and Instagram—all way down to natural food lovers and tea drinkers in the Mid-Atlantic. Additionally, try a few guerrilla B2C events, pop-ups or sponsorships.” – Aaron
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