Zimbabwe discovers the goodness of tea.

The FAO Tea and Health campaign has been launched in Zimbabwe. Illtyd Lewis, executive director of The U.H. Tea Council, details this stage of the research program.

Last year in Prague, Czech journalists and tea drinkers enthusiastically welcomed the launch of the FAO Tea and Health

During the set up of the Tea and Health campaign, we considered it extremely important that one of the countries in which the Tea Mark, "Discover the Goodness," was tested should be a major tea producing area. Out of the whole of Africa, Zimbabwe had the best credentials. The country has an effective advertising infrastructure, good communications systems with the media, a population of approximately 10-11 million, and a well-developed home market for tea in both urban and rural areas - although during research there appeared to be no real knowledge of tea as a healthy drink. As campaign managers for the FAO project (with funding from leading tea producing countries and the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.), we were keen to see if that market could be further developed by promoting tea as a healthy beverage.

Before setting up the Zimbabwe operation, and in order to gather essential information on tea drinking patterns and attitudes, research was carried out amongst target audiences of consumers and opinion leaders. The consumer group consisted of urban and rural wives, mothers (with children 5-15 years old) concerned with their family's health, and all adults aged 30-55 who wished to adopt healthier lifestyles. The group of opinion leaders included medical authorities, medical and consumer journalists, dietitians, general health workers, teachers, and retailers.

Results of the research highlighted tea as the staple drink of Zimbabwe with almost universal penetration and high frequency of consumption. Over 90% of both the target audiences drink tea, and there is a small tendency for black Zimbabweans to be more likely to drink it than other races (9095%). Coffee has a relatively small part of the market, but is the second most widely consumed drink among non-blacks (80%). Although tea is more widely consumed among blacks, it is consumed much more frequently by non-blacks (24.7 cups per week compared to 12.7).

As in other markets, tea drinking in Zimbabwe is largely a habit. However, black Zimbabweans are also likely to use nourishment as reasons for drinking tea, whereas non-blacks are more concerned with taste and refreshment.

About 30% of those questioned see tea as healthy, but in this respect it falls behind milk, squashes, and fruit juice. Reasons for perceiving tea as healthy are rather ill-defined; its ability to "give a lift" is the most quoted reason, although non-blacks quote the low caffeine content of tea.

As with other markets, attitudes towards tea are dominated by its traditional family usage. Reports suggest that 13% of mothers and 11% of adults recognize tea's purity and lack of processing, and that 11% of mothers and 9% of adults associate tea with a healthy diet. Almost three-quarters of the sample audience placed tea as a "favorite" or as a drink to be "taken regularly."

The Launch of the Tea Mark

The campaign in Zimbabwe started with a press launch in March 1998. The appointed agency in Harare, Linsell Advertising (part of the Saatchi Bates Group), working alongside Bates Dorland and the Tea Council in London, and within the parameters of the overall marketing plan for the Tea and Health campaign, had developed a program of events, advertising, and marketing that was adapted to Zimbabwe's particular needs. This includes a press and PR campaign, a radio campaign, television commercials, television documentaries, road shows, and an outdoor merchandising campaign.

As an initial step (and as happened in the other test markets) a high-profile professional, Dr. John Gooch, was appointed to speak on behalf of the Tea Council. Dr. Gooch is a lecturer in bio-chemistry at the University of Harare and lectures in nutrition, stress, and related health matters to mothers' organizations, social groups, business organizations, labor relations groups, school pupils and teachers, sportsmen and women, and the general public through radio talk shows. Dr. Gooch is able to contact the campaign's panel of experts and health professionals set up for the project, and an international network of health and nutrition experts through the Tea Council website (www.teahealth.co.uk). He can therefore access expert knowledge that will enable him to respond to any issues that are raised in Zimbabwe about tea and health or nutrition.

We also gained the endorsement of Zimbabwe's Minister of Health, Dr. Timothy Stamp (who has since spoken about tea and health on both television and radio), and the campaign has benefited from his wholehearted support.

One extremely important part of the operation was to gain the participation of the local tea companies. Presentations were made to all the tea distributing companies to inform them of the publicity opportunities offered by the campaign and to encourage them to incorporate the Tea Mark (sun-cup logo and slogan) on their total marketing mix - for example, packaging, point of sale material, etc. The use of the device is free but carefully controlled, as the aim of the campaign is to stimulate and monitor generic tea consumption, initially in the test markets and finally world-wide. Local tea companies were assured that everyone in the tea business - growers, packers, and blenders - stands to benefit and should therefore play an active role in the campaign.

To launch the Tea Mark, we held a media press conference which was followed by advertorials in the press and by interviews and discussions in all the major peak time slots on radio and television.

The Media, Radio, and Television Campaign

To endorse the tea and health message as conveyed in articles written by journalists, advertorials are being placed in a variety of newspapers and magazines. In six editions over the course of six months, community newspapers will reach a total readership of 50,000 females under the age of 40 and living in rural areas; Parade Magazine has a circulation of 95,000 and a readership of 1.24 million of whom 80% are young male sports lovers in rural and urban areas; Club magazine has a circulation of 135,000 and a readership of 1.76 million young females; and thousands more will read advertorials published in mass circulation newspapers such as the Herald and Chronicle, Sunday Mail, Sunday News, Sunday Standard, Zimbabwe Independent, Financial Gazette, Kwayedza, Manica Post, and Gweru Times.

On radio, a light hearted and entertaining series of 13 weekly five minute "infotorials," and a number of interviews with opinion leaders and health workers, highlighted the health aspects of tea. Other radio coverage included an hour's discussion on one national station and an interview lasting an hour and a half on another.

An exciting television campaign included three 15 minute documentaries that covered the history of tea (generally and in Zimbabwe), factory processing of tea, tea plantations around Zimbabwe, the social aspects of tea, different types of tea, tea and sport, tea and health, tea drinking around the world, how to make a good cup of tea, tea and the economy, and why people drink tea.

The programs have a slightly "off-the-wall" style, with quick cuts, interesting camera angles, and amusing dialogue. Each program opens with rhythmic African-style music and a shot of the presenter waking up in bed in the morning. He is Wiinja Masamatje, a young black actor who is famous for playing offbeat characters in various stage shows in Harare. He has a wonderful sense of timing and an easy, confident manner on screen. The action starts with him staggering out of bed and struggling to get his feet into his slippers (which he manages but he puts the slippers on the wrong feet). He then shuffles to the kitchen where he clumsily brews a pot of tea, pours himself a cup, drinks it, and declares "Ahh, that's better!" He looks refreshed and awake and ready for the day, and the catchy jingle sings, "Tea - discover the goodness!"

In each program, Masamatje takes viewers through different aspects of tea and the tea world. Viewers see him and other characters drinking tea in all sorts of different situations (at home, at work, at the gym, at a roadside building site, etc.), and in each, as cups are raised to the mouth, as caddies are opened, as teapot lids are lifted, a warm glow lights up smiling faces, while the jingle reminds us of the goodness of tea. To round off each program, a cup of tea served in an attractive cup and saucer metamorphosizes into the sun-cup logo.

To utilize the documentaries further, local tea companies were persuaded to buy advertising space in the mid-documentary slots.

The Road Shows and Outdoor Merchandising

Zimbabwe has an established tradition of traveling road shows whereby a body of professional actors take scripts and turn them into 15 minute shows that are performed around the country. The show and actors travel with vans that transform into stage and scenery, and that have all the necessary equipment such as loud speakers and lighting. For the rural population in particular, these events are high spots in the social calendar. At one show alone, there are as many as 7,000 people in the audience and we estimate that in this way, the tea and health message will reach approximately 112,000 Zimbabweans through four shows a month over a period of four months.

The outdoor merchandising campaign was designed to combat the massive influence of Coca Cola, which dominates both town and country life. In both high density townships and simple rural areas, the name is ubiquitous - on 15 sq. ft. advertising signs (declaring, "Coca Cola Welcomes You to Harare!") and on shop fronts.

Every small store or drinking parlor or stall is completely decked out with Coca Cola signs. So we have developed large printed heavy metal plates bearing the Tea mark and the slogan "Tea - discover the goodness!" Set against the background of red and white Coca Cola signs, the blue and yellow of the tea advertisement has a very strong impact. So we have organized for a number of these signs to go up in strategic places around the country on the outside of shops, stores, and bars.

Ongoing Activities

All the above activities will continue through to the autumn of 1999, and will be backed up by an ongoing program of PR.

Almost all the tea packers and blenders in Zimbabwe are using the Tea Mark and are advertising tea as a healthy beverage through point of sale materials in supermarkets and stores.

And poster designing competitions have involved schoolchildren and their parents in the campaign. The students' brightly colored designs incorporate the tea and health slogan, show lots of smiling faces, and declare such things as "Tea keeps teeth strong and heartbeat long!," "Enjoy your tea and keep healthy!," "When dancing, tea is good," "When sick, drink tea. It is medicine!"

As with the other test markets, further research will be carried out at the end of the campaign in late 1999 to assess whether or not the health message has in any way changed Zimbabwean tea drinking habits and attitudes.