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Tetley's foray into making claims for its tea has run into hot water. Wanting to revitalise its brand following flagging market share, Tetley seized the opportunity to try something new and in January of this year pensioned off the characters that had fronted its ads for the past 28 years. The Gaffer, Maurice, Norman and Sydney were no more.

A new £15m campaign focused on the 'good for you' proposition of tea by promoting Tetley as a source of antioxidants that keep your heart healthy.

The change of tack was an attempt to bring new, young drinkers to the brand.

In the aftermath there was much argument about whether the campaign had improved sales or not. While Information Resources put out figures claiming monthly sales had fallen by £7.8m in May, a drop of 14% from January, while PG Tips soared by 35% over the same period, Tetley insisted sales from February to June were up by more than 7%.

The debate was overshadowed last week by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Independent Television Commission (ITC) issuing rulings stating that the ads were misleading, following complaints from the Food Commission. It challenged Tetley's claims of health benefits and the ASA ordered the offending posters to be withdrawn. The ITC upheld a similar complaint against the TV ads run in conjunction with the posters.

The watchdogs also agreed that the slogan 'Go on, live a lot' was misleading, in that it implied that drinking tea would prolong life. Nick Selby, Tetley's marketing development director, denied the judgments had thrown the brand's strategy into doubt, saying "we still believe in celebrating all the virtues of drinking tea, we just need to find a different way of saying it".

Marketing asked Brett McGregor, managing director of Haines McGregor, which has worked on NPD for Tetley, and Richard Williams, partner at design agency Williams Murray Hamm, which has worked for Clipper Tea, for their insights.

VITAL SIGNS
Brand shares of the retail tea market, 1998-2000
                       1998          %        2000         %   (% chng)
                 (pounds m)             (pounds m)
PG Tips                169.8       23.3       170.5      25.7        0.4
Tetley                 171.2       23.5       134.0      20.2      -21.7
Typhoo                  66.0        9.1        65.8       9.9       -0.3
Yorkshire               45.0        6.2        38.7       5.8      -14.0
Twinings special        25.0        3.4        29.4       4.4       17.6
Own-label              190.8       26.2       150.1      22.6      -21.3
Others                  61.1        8.4        74.5      11.2       21.9
Total                  728.9      100.0       663.0     100.0       -9.0
Source: Mintel

DIAGNOSIS

Richard Williams

Throwing off the shackles and replacing the tea folk with 'drink Tetley and you'll live longer', was a brave but misguided move. The tea companies have long known about the health benefits of drinking tea, but to insinuate that it gives you longer life was preposterous. Having worked for years on heart health brands, I was amazed that its legal advisers allowed it to do it.

Of equal concern is that Tetley can't own the health giving properties of tea. It's a generic benefit and it would never be able to defend its positioning against its competitors. If this had worked the whole sector would have been awash with health claims before you could say draw string bag.

In design terms, hearts are meaningless. Everyone from cereals, margarine and yoghurt has got some kind of heart device on it. It's become as big a cliche as the sun, aerobic silhouettes and steam on a fish finger. It has no credibility at all.

The tea folk were the one thing Tetley had going for it, but they did hold it back. What it failed to do was find a powerful replacement, rooted in a brand truth rather than the category.

Brett McGregor

I would question the strategic swing from a campaign that aligned itself with centre-ground tea values, to one that was too clinical by half. The nation's favourite drink is not driven by health benefits, but by deep-seated emotions, which are central to people's lives. The aim should have been to align the brand with the centre ground in a way that the tea folk were becoming less able to do.

Big brands in large markets surrender centre-ground values at their peril.

Remember how the Conservatives vacated them to Labour, who moved from left to centre in the bat of an eye.

Equally, PG has effectively picked up on where tea folk left off with 'slice of life', lovable characters, enjoying a 'tea moment', who consolidate tea's role in our lives. Once you occupy this territory, you make sure you keep it.

However, there is an emotionally engaging idea waiting to rise from the ashes of this campaign, and Tetley might well end up grateful to the ASA and ITC for forcing them to find it. The heart campaign is a good spring board toward the way people feel about tea, and how Tetley feels about its users.

TREATMENT

Williams' advice

- Seek ownable emotional territory based on a brand truth - don't grow the category, grow your brand.

- Don't lose your nerve. Continue to pursue the big breakthrough. That's where the big leaps in market share lie.

- Don't be fooled by iconic packaging, look for big ideas that will last you a decade and that no one can copy.

McGregor's assistance

- The 'heart' campaign is now an equity of the Tetley brand - don't discard it wholesale; Tetley won't stand another change in such a short time.

- Work to translate the values within the campaign to give rise to another that engages emotionally.

- Get comfortable with marketing at an emotional, rather than a functional, level.