I've decided to do a small case study on one of the most popular tea companies in the UK, Twinings. Just to look at the history and the sales and look on the twinings website to see what they currently do in terms of promotion and teas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinings
Twinings (pronounced /ˈtwaɪnɪŋz/) is an English marketer of tea, based in Andover, Hampshire.
It holds the world's oldest continually-used company logo, and is London's most long-standing rate-payer, having occupied the same premises on Strand since 1706.
HISTORY
The founder of Twinings was Thomas Twining. He opened Britain's first known tea room, at 216 Strand, London, in 1706; it still operates today. The firm's logo, created in 1787, is the world's oldest in continuous use.
Holder of a royal warrant, Twinings has been owned by Associated British Foods since 1964. It sells a variety of regional and flavoured teas such as Lapsang Souchong, Lady Grey, and Darjeeling, as well as infusions, coffee, and hot chocolate. It is generally accepted that the company was the first to blend Earl Grey in Britain during the premiership of Charles, 2nd Earl Grey, although this is disputed by rival tea merchants Jacksons of Piccadilly, which is owned by Twinings.
In the mid-twentieth century, it made use of the advertising character Little Miss Barber.
TODAY
In 2005 Twinings introduced its first generic, non-speciality tea, under the brand 'Everyday Tea'. In 2006 it started producing a tinned chocolate drink, and in 2007 also launched a selection of tinned coffees onto the market.
Twinings owns Nambarrie, a tea company based in Belfast and in trade for over 140 years. In April 2008 Twinings announced their decision to close the Nambarrie plant. Twinings said it needed to consolidate its UK manufacturing operations in the face of increasing global competition, and moved production to China and Poland in late 2011.
The company launched a television advertisement in late 2011 which featured an animation of a woman struggling to row a boat in a storm, with the background song Wherever You Will Go by Londoner Charlene Soraia. The song made number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. Twinings said the advert aimed to metaphorically explain "the hectic lives that women today lead, and how taking just 10 minutes out each day to reconnect with yourself can have such an impact on the rest of your day."
HISTORY OF TWININGS
http://www.twinings.co.uk/about-twinings/history-of-twinings
For us, tea is more than just a drink. It's been part of our daily lives and that of generations of tea lovers for over 300 years.
Our story started in 1706. Back then, the most popular drinks in England were coffee, gin and ale - even at breakfast! Although tea had been drunk in China for thousands of years, it had only just been imported to England, and lots of people were suspicious of it.
One man who was sure that it would be big was a certain Thomas Twining. Having had enough of drinking ale in the morning, he started selling tea from his coffee house on London's Strand, promising only to sell the finest qualities and varieties. His pledge soon won him (and his tea) lots of fans - including Jane Austen and Charles II. By the 1750s, tea was the most popular drink among the working classes. Despite anger from pub owners and increased tea taxes, Thomas Twining kept selling tea - now from The Golden Lyon, the very first tea shop in London.
HISTORICAL MOMENTS
1787: Twinings chooses its logo. Today, it is the oldest commercial logo that has been in continuous use since it was made
1837: Queen Victoria makes Twinings an official Royal Warrant holder
1910: Twinings opens its first shop in France
1933: Twinings first blends its famous English Breakfast
1956: Twinings makes tea bags for the first time
1972: Twinings becomes the first company to win the Queen's Award for Export
TWININGS TODAY
More than 300 years later, the passion for tea is still here - and so are we. We still sell tea from Thomas's shop, and we still work hard to bring new blends to tea lovers. Now, we have over 100 varieties and our teas are drunk all over the world.
Our expert blenders (we've got more of them than any other company) taste more than 3,000 cups of tea every week. So you can be sure the next cup you taste will be every bit as good as the one yesterday or the day before.
So far, ten generations of the Twining family have been there to watch it all happen, from the creation of our famous English Breakfast blend to supplying tea to the Red Cross for food parcels during the war. In fact, Stephen Twining still works for his family's company, helping to make sure Thomas's promise is never broken.
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