Russian Tea Package 'Eyes' New Niche

As the Russian tea market is becoming increasingly competitive, pushing brands into new niches, Imperial Tea Co., which specializes in premium tea brands, felt the need to extend its product line with a more playful product aimed at kids. Imperial called on Soldis Communications Agency (www.soldis.ru) for advice on the product's creation, positioning and design. Available in tropical fruit, strawberry, forest berry and black tea, the product, in 15 bags, is packed in a proprietary SBS folding carton, offset-printed in four colors with vivid, fun-filled graphics. Research into kids' preferences showed that children are highly kinetic and tactile; if they like something, they want to touch and play with it. Therefore, the tea package had to become a toy itself. Soldis designers devised the portioned package illustrated with large round eyes. Four cubic segments united to form the carton, are joined with or separated from the others by a combination of scores and perforations so that the carton can be transformed to form four different illustrations of a face that changes expression depending on the segment. Each segment holds 15 teabags. A toy puzzle is also included in each package.