How Yorkshire Tea Uses Northern Charm to Own its Category
Like Sean Bean and the Beatles, Yorkshire Tea is a Northern icon; a beloved social-first brand leading its category with a massive 40% in market share – hard to believe when you consider it was once the underdog amongst its multinational competitors.
So how did the brand flip the script? By leaning into what made them different: their Northern-ness.
Dom Dwight, strategy and innovation director at Taylor’s of Harrogate, has spent the last 15 years on a mission to make Yorkshire Tea the go-to brew for a nation of tea drinkers. It’s a challenge made even harder by the fact that according to Dom – and however surprising it may seem – we’re slowly becoming less and less of a tea-drinking nation in the first place.
“Young people are becoming globalised at an even younger age than they were before, and as a result they’re realising there are other things to drink besides tea,” says Dom. “It’s our job to make tea exciting and relevant again to young people – older consumers too – and innovate so that we don’t get left behind.”
In the first of our very special live podcast episodes from MAD//UpNorth, Dom joins our group strategy director Ric Hayes on the sofa to break down Yorkshire Tea’s approach to social and brand building, and how its Northern heritage is so integral to brand personality.
Watch the full video below to learn:
- How social went from a novelty to a central part of Yorkshire Tea’s media planning
- Why Northern brands shouldn’t shy away from their heritage
- How the brand is tapping into social and innovation to get more Gen Zers popping the kettle on
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