Case Study: Honest Tea

Small tea maker returns to its roots

PROBLEM: Seth Goldman, CEO of Honest Tea, was still brewing batches of his organic iced tea in his kitchen when a local Whole Foods ordered 15,000 bottles of his product. In 2008, Coca-Cola bought a 40% stake in the company. Over the past 13 years, Honest Tea has grown by leaps and bounds, but Goldman wanted to maintain a focus on the brand's founding principals of health, social responsibility, and environmental consciousness.

SOLUTION: "Where [Honest Tea has] been most successful is in creating that memorable connection with our consumers through those guerrilla, grass-roots efforts," said Jesse Merril, director of marketing for Honest Tea. "I don't think we'll ever be that company that runs a few TV or radio ads. We'll always have feet on the street."

To that end, the company earlier this year launched a guerilla marketing effort called "Honest Cities." Unmanned kiosks filled with Honest Tea products were set up in seven major cities: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Payment was based on the honor system, with hidden cameras set up to capture the action. "They were really a series of social experiments," Goldman said.

The Honest Cities campaign was an enormous success. The media consistently reported on the findings of the "experiment," ranking cities by the percentage of customers who'd paid for their bottle of tea. (If you're curious, Boston came in first place, with 93.3% of consumers paying for their tea, and Los Angeles came in last with 75%.) The company also created short videos from the hidden cameras that they've made available on YouTube.

THE TAKEAWAY: Not only has Honest Tea's recent campaign gained a significant amount of exposure for the company and stayed in line with its founding principles, but it also sent out an important message to its customers. The campaign placed trust in their hands and reassured loyal fans that the brand still has the heart of a small company, even as its bottom line grows.