Twinings is a brand that has long been held in high regard amongst tea drinkers. But there's also a certain stigma against it. Whilst most of us are more than content with our PG Tips or Tetley's in the morning, many fans of the 300-year old brand refuse to drink anything else. And it's this snobbery that they are trying to shed with a new £10 million campaign from AMV BBDO, the brands long-term creative agency, planned to roll out over the next 12 months. The campaign follows on from the “Get You Back to You” activity from three years ago with a gorgeous stop-motion spot developed by the BAFTA-award winning team at the Parabella animation studio (Mikey Please and Daniel Ojari), alongside Toby Howell and Kev Harwood, who worked on the classic “Bear and the Hare” animation for John Lewis back in 2013.
The new commercial uses craft paper techniques to show a woman being transported to a world created from Twinings tea tags
The 30-second spot (below) uses craft paper techniques to show a woman being transported to a world created from Twinings tea tags after taking a sip of Twining's English Breakfast tea. It hopes to help establish the brand as more of an “Everyday” brand, rather than a premium “On special occasions” brand by positioning the tea as something that makes an everyday difference. The spot ends on the brand's new tagline “Drink it all in,” which falls very much in line with not only the colourful and creative spot, but the brand's renewed focus on accessibility. The soundtrack is also exemplary, with Sophia Loren's “Bing, Bang Bong” really reinforcing the positive, effervescent nature of the spot.
Twinings – Drink it all in
Heather Hartridge, marketing director at Twinings, said “There’s lots of little things you can do every day that make a big difference, and Twinings is one of those things.” As such, they have really tried to amplify that feeling in the advertising, using a style that is almost Disneyesque in its whimsy. Indeed, the spot was reportedly inspired by the Walt Disney cartoons of the 1930's, with the animation team using the multi-plane animation technique pioneered by the mouse house in the early days of cinema. Parabella shot 3D models on layered planes, creating a sense of depth and perspective, and they also took pixilation to another level, using the technique to animate the live action character frame by frame, all in-camera. “The development of the advert,” Hartridge says “Has been a dedicated process which has resulted in a truly unique look and feel.” The overall aim is to “Bring to life the idea that little things can have a big impact on their day; from English Breakfast to English Afternoon,” with Twinings offering such a broad range of delightful teas “That there is always something perfect to enjoy, whatever the time.”
The campaign is part of the brand's ongoing strategy to transform Twinings tea into something people reach for every day
The campaign, Hartridge says, is part of the brand's ongoing strategy to transform Twinings tea into something people reach for every day. She believes that if they truly want people to think differently about their tea, “A winning strategy will be to create advertising that drives real appraisal; how do you get them to think differently about tea?” She adds that “Distinctive, clever campaigns have been doing that for years and this is just the latest.” Twinings currently holds a 21% market share, which is up from just 13.8% five years ago, so shifting their focus away from product-led marketing, and towards more creative work is obviously paying off. Personally I think it's about time the tyranny of PG Tips came to an end. I never agreed with how they treated those monkeys anyway!
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and struggling musician from Kidderminster in the UK. He has a friend that used to work at Twinings, and she really turned him on to the stuff. He's yet to look back.
