Case Study on Making Yorkshire Tea Proper Successful

            Advertising has been in the mainstream for so many decades, and brands have been using the essence of advertising to promote their brands and reach more customers as much as possible. This surge for catching the attention of customers has been on-going, and it continues to deliver great results for many brands. But it is quite strange to say that even after so many concepts and years, the advertising is still like an unknown concept, where advertisers are always trying to find, how advertising actually works. After hundreds and thousands of successful advertising campaigns form different brands all over the world, the question remains at its place, and every time, when brands try to answer this question with their own terms, they come up with new dynamics, which are never seen before. It means that it is still an unanswered question in so many ways, how advertising works. This idea started from signposting, being the oldest version of ads, and now it has reached digital media platforms. The advertisers tried different models to connect with the emotional and social needs of consumers, and they continued to come up with new findings every time. There are plenty of examples, which show about the working pattern of advertising, but every brand can always explore the essence of this question to get new opportunities for their business (FELDWICK, 2020)

            So Yorkshire Tea was also trying to find answers to these important questions, how advertising can work perfectly for them so that they can beat their major competitors like Tetley and PG. PG and Tetley had made a strong presence in the market, and they were holding a great share in the market. It has been observed in so many cases that consumers tend to use a few brands from their childhood, and they continue to use it even they get old. These kinds of shoppers are called “sleep shoppers”, who connect with one brand and become habitual to use it for their lifetime. So, the major challenge for launching an advertising campaign was to wake up these sleep shoppers, as well as, non-users to get market growth and share to pose competition for the other two successful brands. In this difficult situation, it was hard for them to make any decisions for brand promotion, which can throw a challenge to its competitors, and things are put on the right track. It was time for them to launch an advertising campaign which gives new meaning to the idea of advertising, and things get better for them in terms of attracting sleep shoppers along with various other potential buyers (Horner, 2018)

            It is a fact that Yorkshire Tea had tried so many things in the past, but they were not able to beat their competitors and remain at the third spot as one of the top brands in the country. When brands are facing such difficult situations, then they should look for different models of advertising effects so that they can find new ways to make an effect for their brand. A variety of effects models are there to go with a certain advertising campaign, but it is important for a brand to choose a model, which is going to work best for them. One of the key models of advertising effects is the Hierarchy-of-Effects model. It is an advertising strategy, which makes an influence on the purchasing decision of consumers to select or reject a brand. In this model, the concept of hierarchy is associated with the progress of learning to come up with a certain type of decision making. The advertising message in this model is presented with a structured series, so that consumers are stimulated to make a buying decision, and sales are noticed for the brand being advertised. Persuasive advertising messages are created to get the attention of consumers. When the advertising strategy of Yorkshire Tea is analysed, it shows that it is very much relevant to this effects model. Yorkshire Tea came up with an idea to tell people with a message “'Do things proper.”, which asserted that they are involved in doing things properly. To grab the attention a structured series of ads was created where celebrities were involved in doing different business activities (Barry & Howard, 1990)

Question 2:
A) Please evaluate the concept of positioning in advertising.

            In the world of marketing and advertising, positioning is one of the most important things to look at. It is vital to understand how the positioning is important for brands and their products, and how it is accomplished through advertising campaigns. The positioning can be associated with the whole brand, or even it can be linked with a particular product. It is a concept, which is adapted to make an influence on the perception of the consumer regarding a brand or product. It means that consumers tend to buy products, which are better positioned in the market in terms of creating a better perception in the mind of consumers. So, if a brand has been able to use advertising as a tool to create a better perception in the consumer’s viewpoint, then consumers will tend to buy products of such brand. But if a consumer has a bad perception about a brand, then he/she will not consider making a purchase from such a brand. That’s why it is vital for advertisers of a company to come up with advertising messages and campaigns so that better perception and thought process is created in consumers’ minds to establish a long term relationship. The good thing is when consumers create better perception due to advertising, then such brand will be better positioned in the market, and consumers will even do word of mouth advertising for the brand to share the message with their family and friends (Bueno, 2019)

B) At what stage does brand positioning come into the Communications Strategic Planning process?

            It is important for brands to understand that communication strategic planning process is different than the simple communication planning, because when strategic elements are aligned with the plan, then the strategy is shaped in a better manner to grab the attention of consumers. The strategic communication plan is able to achieve long term benefits for a brand because it is aligned with the overall strategic objectives of the organization. In this kind of communication plan, the communication of an organisation is more appropriate and purposeful, having a certain direction to follow. A proper strategic direction is critical to get things done properly to achieve set goals and objectives for a communication plan. There are different stages of the communications strategic planning process, and each stage has its own importance. So, when brand positioning is concerned in communication planning, it comes at a stage, when a certain advertising message is being developed for the target audience. It is the stage, where brand positioning is aligned with communication strategic planning because a strong message is created to ignite a better perception regarding the brand in the minds of consumers. It is the time when awareness about a brand is raised in a particular manner so that overall communications strategic objectives are served with its purpose (Gikaru , 2016)

C) What USPs did Yorkshire Tea choose in their positioning for the campaign?

            Yorkshire Tea had various challenges to face in terms of increasing its brand positioning in the market. They were competing with one of the top brands in the country, which has created great brand positioning in the minds of consumers. Secondly, they were trying to grab the attention of sleep shoppers and non-buyers of tea brands. Now, in such a situation, it is vital to get things done in a unique way so that a brand can stand out from the crowd. To achieve this feat, a brand has to develop unique selling prepositions (USPs), which give them a distinction as compared to other brands in the market. So, what they did so successfully was their strategy of suing celebrities in their advertising campaign (Niu & Wang, 2016). It was their unique selling point that they grabbed the attention of consumers by giving a strong message through their favourite and famous celebrities. People tend to look to celebrities for making certain choices in purchasing, and this strategy proved a handful for Yorkshire Tea. They came with an idea of “doing everything properly” so they showed this by involving celebrities in different ads. Another unique selling point for the company was to make a series of short ads to remain in streamline for more time, rather than making a single lengthy ad in duration. So, their series of ads helped them to stay on the minds of consumers to create better brand positioning. That’s why they were able to increase their sales in immediate basis after launching this campaign, which also proved that company had used USPs in its advertising to create a brand position that no one else was doing at that moment (Horner, 2018)

Question 3- Media selection.

            It is vital for every brand to stay careful in the selection of media when it comes to going with any kind of advertising strategy. It is often observed that sometimes brands have a great idea or message to convey to its targeted audience, but then make faults in selecting the right channel and media to convey the message. So, what happens due to the wrong selection of media? It happens that message is delivered to people other than being targeted, or idea loses its effectiveness by choosing the wrong media or channel of communication. For instance, an ad asking people to engage in certain activities cannot be effective on electronic media; rather such an idea will get its efficacy through social media channels, where customers can engage with the brands at the same time when a message is being delivered. The other important element to keep in mind while selecting a media is the competitors. A brand is always trying to stay ahead in the competition, then it is viable for them to look at its competitors to ascertain what media channels and communication channels are being used by them. The other major element to consider is the costs associated with certain media. If a brand can’t afford to advertise on certain communication channels, then it is better for them to look for other options. Moreover, it is also vital to study the patterns adopted by the public, who are being targeted. If a certain region is famous for using social media, then a brand will be advised to choose the social media channels to convey its message to such a region. So, these are few factors to consider while choosing a media for advertising (Adams, 2020)

            As far as Yorkshire Tea is concerned, they showed great sense and awareness in developing a great idea for advertising, then coming up with a strategy to select media; which can convey their message in a proper manner. They knew where their potential and target audience is, so they made a series of short ads for them. It is vital to mention here that the main media selected for the advertising campaign was TV. The television ads were made by Yorkshire Tea to execute their strategy. The company used TV as a primary channel to communicate their message and they did by remaining on-air from March 2017 till January of 2018. Their ads were also available on social media platforms such as YouTube. This selection of media was critical to reach a national audience and create an impact on their minds to develop a better perception of their brand. It was not easy to do so, because such kind of competition is challenging when a brand is competing with superior brands, but the right mind-set with the right strategy did the job for Yorkshire Tea. That’s why they achieved great results, where consumers showed their interests, and an increase was observed in the sales.

References on Making Yorkshire Tea Proper Successful

Adams, B. (2020). How to Choose the Right Advertising Media. Retrieved April 24, 2020, from https://businesstown.com/articles/how-to-choose-the-right-advertising-media/

Barry, T. E., & Howard, D. J. (1990). A Review and Critique of the Hierarchy of Effects in Advertising. International Journal of Advertising, 9(2), 121-135.

Bueno, B. (2019). How to Create Strong Brand Positioning in Your Market. Retrieved April 23, 2020, from http://cultbranding.com/ceo/create-strong-brand-positioning-strategy/

FELDWICK, P. (2020). HOW DOES ADVERTISING WORK? Retrieved April 23, 2020, from https://www.adassoc.org.uk/credos/how-does-advertising-work/

Gikaru , L. (2016). Creating a strategic communication plan. Retrieved April 23, 2020, from http://www.ethicalcorp.com/creating-strategic-communication-plan

Horner, L. (2018). Waking the sleep shoppers: A proper effective campaign for Yorkshire Tea. Retrieved April 23, 2020, from https://www.warc.com/content/paywall/article/Waking_the_sleep_shoppers_A_proper_effective_campaign_for_Yorkshire_Tea/122387

Niu, Y., & Wang, C. L. (2016). Revised Unique Selling Proposition: Scale Development, Validation, and Application. Journal of Promotion Management, 22(6).