Bloom crafts fruit tea extension for Lipton

Unilever’s Lipton tea brand this week launches a fruit and herbal extension to its range, crafted by Bloom Design.

The pack design for the European market, created by Paris consultancy CB’A Design about a year ago, had to be adapted especially for the UK market, according to Bloom managing director Jill Marshall.

‘Looking at the European design and the tea market in the UK, it wouldn’t have cut through – it’s too close to Twinings,’ she says.

Bloom was invited to work on the project last February, without a pitch and on the strength of Marshall’s connection with Unilever brand development director for the tea category, Emma Reynolds.

Whereas Lipton’s nearest competitor Twinings is more of a genteel brand, Lipton trades on its boldness and confidence, says Marshall. The idea is to attract new consumers to the category with a premium, vibrant and youthful brand positioning. The range, available in nine varieties, is split into four segments: destination, a range inspired by the flavours of international hot spots, fruity herbal, and fruity green teas. Navigation throughout the range and sub-segments is guided by colour and on-pack imagery reflecting the ingredients.

Bloom has taken its cue for the packaging design from the appeal of the flavours and ingredients used in the product, using typeface Legacy Sans ITC (medium), tweaking the ‘R’ to ‘give it more of a flourish’. Photography is by Laurie Evans.

Lipton Fruit & Herbal Infusions hits shelves in Tesco this week, while a £2m marketing push, which will see the product distributed in other supermarkets, is planned for next year.