'The Drink Issue' | Heytea: a solid case study + LDF highlights + Brewdog: still canceled but see u in Waterloo + Why are Yeti coolboxes everywhere all of a sudden?
I've been thinking about drinking.
Of late, I’ve been doing some project work that relates to drinking so this issue is loosely themed around imbibing.
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TEA IN CHINA
Case study on HEYTEA, a Chinese tea brand. “How has it managed to create a mania over an everyday product?” (Daxue Consulting)
Notable:
launched 2012
Customers willing to queue 5 hours (‘that’s nothing’, says Carol from Norwich).
Wants to be Chinese Starbucks.
Changed its name from ROYALTEA (that’s quite good, isn’t it?) to HEYTEA to highlight counterfeit stores (!)
Renamed products to create more premium appeal.
Engaged with food and drink professionals on social, and ‘humorous bloggers’.
This is good stuff. More analysis please.
Maybe I should do more analysis? Let me know what you want and I will* deliver gratis, dear reader.
*within reason.
Further reading: HEYTEA wants to make tea-drinking cool again in China (Economist, 2018)
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COFFEE IN THE STATES (ok, just Starbucks stuff really, but it matters)
Starbucks rolling out 100 ‘Community Stores’ in US (National Retail News) - collaborating with local artists and ‘diverse contractors’.
Also: Is the Third Place over for Starbucks? (Modern Retail) : my money is that this will be the case for some low-dwell, high sales locations. The article also mentions Blank Street, which has just opened in London.
Stop the French press: Starbucks is experimenting with NFTs. “The new experience combines the company’s successful Starbucks Rewards loyalty program with an NFT platform, allowing its customers to both earn and purchase digital assets that unlock exclusive experiences and rewards.” The post-Schultz era is gonna be interesting.
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OBJECT VIEW #1 | THE COOL BOX
While on hols in Devon and Cornwall I was struck by the prevalence of Yeti coolboxes (and other Yeti-branded outdoorsy-drink / food containers).
When something proliferates like this, it’s almost impossible to ignore. Where did it come from? Why? How was it funded? It turns out that someone has done the hard work for me here. It came from two guys who grew frustrated with coolboxes breaking when they stood on them while fishing (I KNOW, WTF?).
“Startups today spend 40% of every venture capital dollar on Google, Facebook or Amazon. YETI originally ignored these traditional marketing channels.”
Props to Chris Hladczuk (192k Twitter followers, pfft small fry) for the intel.
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LSD aka LISTEN // SEE // DO
DO:
London Design Festival is this week - a couple of things for you retail heads to see:
Atelier100 is dedicated to celebrating London’s most exciting creative talent, and every item available in-store has been designed and produced within 100km of central London (finally, I am going to go see this) | Hammersmith
Footpatrol + Jason Markk + Mentsen + EPC (canny mix, as they’ll draw in non-sneakerheads for this) | Soho
Conran Shop x It’s Nice That: Meet Me in the Metaverse | South Kensington
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SEE:
The new Brewdog in Waterloo looks nuts. Basically a playground meets bar, which, five + years ago would have been my idea of hell, and now, it’s a sort of heaven. There’s a bowling alley and a podcast recording studio. Jheeeez. Interestingly, it’s absolutely fkn massive - 27,500 sqft!!! In comparison, the previous biggest pub, Wetherspoons in Ramsgate (opened 2017 to much fanfare), is a piddly 11,000 sq ft.
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LISTEN:
Rachel Comey on her first store (Time Sensitive)
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IN PRAISE OF… BLACKBIRD SPYPLANE
It’s taken me a while but I’ve really warmed to ‘BBSP’ (and seem to have adopted a bit of how they write through osmosis: my apologies). A couple of more ‘in the know’ pals had sent it my way and my interest was piqued. The tone of voice takes…getting used to, but once you’re in (and comfortable with ‘jawns’) it’s a lot of fun, esp in the world of poe-faced fashun (from where I started my ‘career’. Feel free to ask me about the time I had to apologise to an LVMH boss as one of my underpaid colleagues had been flogging yet to be released perfume on eBay: good times). I digress.
Anyway, this piece hit the spot for me. Deal-sealer: “To build a “balanced social diet,” seek out events & communities that also have as little to do with commerce as possible. Your enemy here is the insidious contemporary phenomenon whereby all social interactions are “transactionalized.” : sound advice.
CAN SOMEONE PLEASE START A UK-VERSION OF BBSP? THANKS.
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AM I AVAILABLE AT THE MOMENT?
🟢 Yes, I am currently available for all your brand strat / customer experience / research / intel needs as of Monday 3rd October. Feel free to reply to this, or find me on LinkedIn, if you really have to do that.