A traveling interactive brand experience that communicates the essence, appeal and commitment of this folkloric tea brand.
As this legendary brand with an abundance of personality and credentials desired to communicate and sample its Better-for-You sku’s to the market, we were asked to develop a unique and distinctive socially responsible experiential marketing program, and deploy that effort in to special events around the U.S. Building off of an idea that we first encountered as a display at the company’s Visitor’s Center in Colorado (inspiration can come from anywhere!), we set off to bring to life the Safari of Flavor – a multi-sensory experience for the Public where guests could sip, smell, touch, see and yes, hear interpretations of the brand in a field marketing setting.
At the events, the Safari of Flavor pavilion (a brightly colored circus-style tent with beautifully-ordained side panels of Celestial Seasonings famous packaging designs), attracted the Public with the deep aroma of appetizingly steeped teas and the gentle acoustical music of guitars and song. Once inside the pavilion, specially trained hosts invited guests to select and prepare a hot or cold tea of their choice and take part in a hands-on education on the herbs and spices Celestial Seasonings uses to create their wonderful beverages. From there, they are then invited to relax with a little light massage and enjoy more tea beverages in “The Tea Room”, complete with wicker furniture and music.
Selection and placement of the Safari of Flavor pavilion was just as detailed as the pavilion experience itself. Research confirmed that healthy people who were more active across a spectrum of activities are pre-disposed to consider teas as a part of their healthy beverage repertoire. With that as a consideration, we then sought out higher indexed BDI/CDI markets where first, we could look to integrate a major retailer to participate with the Safari of Flavor experience and also identify larger scale events that attracted more active adults. With those and other criteria considered, the Safari of Flavor experience has traveled to locations such as The Taste of Colorado in Denver, Bay-to-Breakers in San Francisco, The Heart Walk in Cincinnati, the Coconut Grove Arts Festival in south Florida, and numerous other locations.
The entire program was supported by a micro site that enabled guests to secure advance VIP-status for the pavilion that then qualified them for a sweepstakes with special lifestyle prize awards and experiences. Point of Sale materials were also developed and deployed in to grocery and specialty retail to drive interest in the program and Celestial Seasonings Teas.
Finally, we conducted on-site interviews with hundreds of guests to determine and chart their perceptions and responses to the Safari of Flavor.
