India is a nation of tea drinkers. Tea or chai, as it is popularly called, is the lifeline of the
people in this country. This beverage can truly be called multi-dimensional as it touches various moments in an Indian’s life and cuts across every socio-economic segment. The ubiquitous cup of tea is variously used to greet, welcome, commemorate, celebrate, comfort, salute, placate, revitalise, wake up, cheer up, bond and much more.
In this scenario, intertwined with a hundred emotions, the one brand that defines tea in the country is Brooke Bond. Brooke Bond has, over the past 135 years, touched millions of consumers in India with a range of tea offerings that appeal to the diversity and homogeneity of its people. Thanks to this overwhelming relationship the brand has been inextricably linked with tea and has become synonymous with the beverage.
For over a century now, consumers have accessed Brooke Bond in India through its major sub-brands: Brooke Bond Red Label, Brooke Bond Taj Mahal, Brooke Bond Taaza and Brooke Bond 3 Roses. In a market fragmented by dozens of brands, Brooke Bond, with a value share of more than 30%, is by far the largest brand in the category (Source: ORG Retail Panel).
However, a key issue today in the category is the competition to tea brands posed by the commodity itself – in the form of the low-price loose tea. Today, almost half the market is actually unbranded. The ‘commoditisation’ of this category has been a key trend, posing a challenge to the leading brands.
Thus, as the market leader, consumer upgradation and increased brand loyalty will continue to be an important task for Brooke Bond.
Brooke Bond is one of the largest brands of Unilever in India, and one of the largest in the FMCG sector in the country. It occupies the largest footprint of any tea
brand in India and touches the homes of over 500 million consumers.
Indians instinctively reach out for tea across various moments in their lives. The Brooke Bond range of products are designed to provide the appropriate tea for all such moments.
Brooke Bond is thus helping build the category and
integrating tea more strongly into the lives of consumers. In living up to the challenge to de-commoditise the tea category, Brooke Bond is focussing its efforts on building four powerful sub-brands under the Brooke Bond umbrella.
This decision was the culmination of an extensive study spanning the length and breadth of the country and was designed to better understand consumers and their perception of the category vis-à-vis Brooke Bond brands. Post the re-launch in 2003, all the sub-brands were positioned closer to true consumer insights, thus helping to foster a deeper relationship with the consumers than ever before.
Brooke Bond is also seeking to build brand loyalty and de-commoditisation through sustained innovation in its packaging and its formats.
Brooke Bond has pioneered many firsts in the tea industry in India. The brand understands the role innovation can play in shepherding the market and shifting its focus back to
packaged, branded teas. The Brooke Bond Taj Mahal tea bags were launched in the 1970s and are a prime example of innovation. Today, the ‘Dip Dip’ signoff has become generic to the format. Many teashops and restaurants still sell, what they refer to as ‘dip tea’, to consumers across the country – an indicator of the power of being first.
The patented vacuum carton pack designed to preserve the freshness of the tea right up to consumer homes is a first in the world. Launched with Brooke Bond Taj Mahal, this
packaging is a key element of the ‘exclusive tea’ proposition of the sub-brand. Further, specially created jar packs sustain the tea quality in-use and have been launched by Brooke Bond as another innovation that adds to the tea experience of discerning consumers.
Brooke Bond’s pioneering tea expertise makes it an invaluable and legendary brand. It has a heritage of warming the hearts of tea drinkers in India since 1869.
With over a hundred and thirty years of
association with Indian consumers, it is the brand of choice in India. In fact, Brooke Bond took on the challenge of building the category in the country with two pioneering initiatives: large-scale sampling and establishing a company-owned distribution infrastructure that reached the length and breadth of the country.
The sampling was led through Hot Tea Shops – a phenomenon unique to the country, variously called ‘adda’ in the East or ‘tea kadai’ in the