house system, and cut off all relationships with Stern and other key brand
allies. They disconnected the brand
from its roots, and anything disconnected from its roots can’t really live.
OP: So, what are you doing to stay con-
nected to your roots?
product to our sampling events. It would be one thing if we’re talking about
sustainability and then we drive out to events in a Hummer. We recognize that
as part of our marketing presence, it’s important how we get there. At the Organic Summit, someone said, “why don’t you bike to sampling events?” That’s a
nice idea but it’s just not realistic when you are carrying around dozens of cases
of tea. But on the other hand, a hybrid does work because it’s big enough to
carry around what we need, but it’s also incorporating the message of sustainable transportation. It’s a great way to educate our consumers about the environment at the same time that we’re educating them about tea.
Goldman: Unlike Snapple, we are not
cutting ties with smaller natural foods
distributors, and we will work to expand those partnerships. We are also
continuing the same type of guerilla
marketing— getting street teams out
to the Green Festivals and events like
the Boston Celtic’s victory parade and
the Gay Pride Parade.
It’s important for us to stay authentic and be on the grass-roots level
where the core consumers are and
where we can expose new consumers
to the whole Honest experience.
There are a few things that make our
product different. One is the taste,
which you can’t really communicate
through a radio ad or a TV ad. The
other thing is authenticity. So much of
commercial language, and the overall
approach, is well, commercial. It’s very
heavy with overstatement, hype or
bluster and it often repels consumers—particularly those consumers
like ours who value authenticity.
No Super Bowl ads; Honest Tea still focuses on
more grass-roots guerilla marketing like this.
“Authentic marketing” to most people probably sounds like an oxymoron.
For us, it is about being consistent with
our brand and what it stands for. Another way we are doing this is through
our partnership with Saturn; we are
using their VUE hybrids to transport
