Yorkshire Tea

Introduction

How do you settle the age-old question, "What's the proper colour of a proper brew"?

When it comes to tea, the UK has long been divided by the age-old debate over how to make the perfect brew, and more specifically, what colour a brew should be. Yorkshire Tea saw an opportunity to engage this passionate audience and solidify its status as the ultimate authority on British tea.

The Pitch

The campaign began as a cold pitch. Recognising that everyone has a strong opinion on tea, the initial email highlighted how Yorkshire Tea could harness these opinions to create a fun, interactive campaign that would resonate across the UK.

To demonstrate its potential, a working prototype was included, allowing recipients to scan a QR code and experience the concept firsthand. The marketing team later shared that it was the most compelling cold pitch they had ever received, with the working prototype bringing the idea to life and securing their immediate buy-in.

Execution

We launched the campaign via a dedicated microsite, brewtone.ai, where users could upload a photo of their tea mug. The site used AI to verify that the image contained a cup of tea and employed computer vision to analyze the brew's hue.

Users were then prompted to answer a few questions about their tea preferences, which we used to generate a personalized Tea Profile page, presented in the style of Instagram stories. When users shared their profiles on social media, we leveraged dynamically generated Open Graph images to create unique card visuals featuring their brew colour and a custom Brew-R code linking directly to their tea profile.

Results and Impact

The campaign quickly gained momentum, drawing thousands of tea lovers to share their brew colour and engage with the content. Key outcomes included:

  • Significant User Participation: Over 10,000 visitors to brewtone.ai, with nearly 4,000 users uploading their mugshots and completing their Tea Profiles, a completion rate of almost 40%.
  • Viral Engagement: The campaign’s relatable and playful approach led to 1,500 social shares, amplifying its reach.
  • Valuable Consumer Insights: Yorkshire Tea gained in-depth insights into its consumers’ brewing habits, from ideal brewing times to preferred biscuit pairings.
  • Fun and Engagement: The campaign not only generated buzz but also provided a platform for tea lovers to have fun and connect over their shared love of tea. (see examples below 👇)

They tried to trick the brewbot:


It even begrudgingly won over PG tip drinkers

And won praise for it's use of AI