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Message: <blockquote data-quote="rocat90" data-source="post: 19929060" data-attributes="member: 452168">Tea was promoted by British planters and tea traders by using ingenious  marketing methods. When Ceylon tea began to face competition from other  tea producing countries in late 19th Century, it was presented to  British and European tea drinkers as a uniquely branded product. A  separate tea culture was developed with British and European aristocracy  meeting frequently over a cup of tea and discussing many topics of  interest.      Thus, tea was associated with exchange of new ideas and the British and  European aristocracy could not do without it. It was the aspiration of  the nouveau riche to become a part of this high society tea culture.      Tea was presented to them as ‘a brain tonic’, ‘delicious drink’,  ‘panacea for all illnesses’ or ‘a drink that improved one’s digestion’.  In the late 19th century, there was another marketing campaign to  popularise tea among the working class as well. Since they did not have  the wherewithal to buy tea, arrangements were made for them to buy  once-brewed tea from aristocrats at bargained prices (available at:  <a href="http://www.panix.com/~kendra/tea/tea_to_england.html" target="_blank">http://www.panix.com/~kendra/tea/tea_to_england.html</a>).      Unlike coffee, tea leaves could be reused to brew tea again and again;  though it reduced the tastes in subsequent brewing, the working class  people compensated for the loss of taste by allowing the reused tea  leaves to be brewed longer. Thus, through a weaker taste cup of tea,  even the working class people were introduced to tea drinking. The  ultimate result of these ingenious marketing campaigns was to promote  tea as a universal beverage. Thus, Ceylon got the market for its tea  without labouring anything on its part and remained passive in targeting  new consumers.     Remaining apathetic when competitors have been active      But the competitors to tea ‘as a beverage’ were active all the time in  reaching out to new consumers. One such competitor was the soft drink  manufacturer, Coca-Cola, which was penetrating the global market almost  with an aggressive tone.      It had a long-term vision to promote Coca-Cola as the world’s number  one drink. In 1986, the Chairman and CEO of the Coca-Cola Company,  Roberto Goizueta, made a historic speech before Coca-Cola sales  representatives (available at:  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpF_-BbaV1g" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpF_-BbaV1g</a>). He said: “Right now at  this point in time in the United States, people consume more soft drinks  than any other liquid, including ordinary tap-water. We’ll take full  advantage of our opportunities. Someday, not too many years into our  second century, we’ll see the same wave catching on markets after  markets on to eventually the number one beverage on earth will not be  ‘coffee or tea or wine or beer’. It will be soft drinks – our soft  drink”.      <img src="http://static.ft.lk/ftadmin/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/20204922/Untitled-528.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />So,  the Coca-Cola Company took note of the declining consumer tastes for  traditional liquids which was naturally happening and reoriented its  strategic vision to cut a notch for itself in the new opportunity set  that was offering to it in the market. Having such a long term vision is  a must for any commodity producer. Sri Lankan tea manufacturers and  exporters were all the time happy about living in the nostalgic past of  ‘Ceylon Tea World’ – an icon for which they would even fight unto their  death – while the market was slipping away from them gradually quite  unknown to them.</blockquote>

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