Goldfish Tea Swimming in your Cup

Clever packaging is the most powerful means of adding value to tea. It opens the door to gifting possibilities beyond the goodness within the tin, pouch or packet. When packaging is a top consideration, social marketing is close second.
Photo property of Charm Villa
Photo property of Charm Villa
Taiwan brand Charm Villa demonstrates this with a practical machine and hand-produced teabag in the clever shape of a goldfish. The 16-step process includes hand finishing that gives the fins and tail lifelike movement. It is this final touch that makes all the difference. The design delivers a Koi in your cup complete with multi-colored stripes when the dry tea is blended with florals and fruit inclusions. A cotton string encourages you to dangle and flop your floating friend about as depicted in this YouTube video. The low-cost unscripted video has 25,000 views as I write this dispatch. The company’s Facebook page, a design award from reddot 21, and write-ups in several blogs along with the video demonstrate practical ways to get the word out at modest expense. The design is paramount (perhaps more than tea within). Once you see one swimming in your cup, you are practically compelled to show everyone in the restaurant your new finned friend. Another company that has focused heavily on design has been Tea Forté. Tea Forté is a venture founded by an extraordinarily talented designer who also liked tea. The tea is top-notch but the company has garnered international design awards for its ability to make teabags something quite special. In this instance the tall, narrow pyramid bags are made of high-quality materials that efficiently infuse tea. What makes Tea Forté collections distinctive is the signature tea leaf tag at the end of the string and a presentation that is truly elegant. Tins, canisters, mugs and accessories are organized by gifting occasion. Selections are curated for corporate giving, holidays, hostess gifts, weddings, anniversary and birthdays and baby showers. The recent website makeover is very effective. Screen Shot 2014-11-24 at 1.02.32 PMTea Forté now uses BlueConic software to adjust customer experience in real time—catering to each individual visitor and increasing conversion and return purchases. BlueConic synchronizes shopping channels to establish continuous dialogue with each individual customer. "The BlueConic platform allows us to deliver the most appropriate functionality and messages to those interacting with our brand and as a result drive conversion rates and grow revenue,” said Jan Hoorntje, CEO,Tea Forté “In the first six weeks since launching BlueConic, Tea Forté has achieved a noticeable 1.4 percent increase in transaction conversions,” he said. "The buying journey today occurs across channels -- from mobile apps to websites to brick-and-mortar stores -- and brands are tasked with making that journey a seamless, personalized one,” writes Bart Heilbron, CEO, BlueConic. “Our technology takes advantage of that multi-channel buying process to drive huge improvement in conversion for our customers,” he said.