How Typhoo became the Tony's of tea

This is the story of Typhoo – an old, nearly-forgotten British tea brand that attempted one of the boldest brand repositionings in recent years.

It had all the makings of a marketing masterclass: high stakes, big ambition, and a category that hadn’t been meaningfully disrupted in decades.

We spoke to Holly Rix, Brand and Marketing Director of Typhoo at our latest Up Club event.

She ran us through what went right, what went wrong and what we can learn as marketers in the startup world.

Settle down with a cuppa (Typhoo, if you have some😉) and enjoy.

A brand on its last legs

Typhoo was 120 years old.

72% brand awareness, but a product no one wanted.

“It was the kind of tea you don’t serve people. Or drink yourself. The kind you get at the church fete. Or worse, in the hospital”, Holly said.

The brand had been passed around from owner to owner, and it was in discount stores as a bargain-basement, low-quality, dust-in-a-bag brand.

A far cry from its once-iconic status.

Enter a new CEO, a new mission, and a question that would define everything:

“How can we make Typhoo the Tony’s Chocolonely of tea?”

The problem nobody was talking about

Tea, for all its comforting Britishness, has a dark side.

In the tea industry, 3 in 4 women on plantations fear sexual violence every day.

A harrowing statistic, largely ignored by brands who quietly continued to profit from exploitative supply chains.

The team at Typhoo saw an opportunity – not just to make a better cup of tea, but to challenge an entire industry.

And so the repositioning began.

Fear-free tea: the big, bold bet

Typhoo made an aggressive commitment: to source exclusively from farms that prioritise women’s safety, cutting their supplier list from 300+ down to just three ethical plantations.

The packaging and messaging were laser-focused on this mission.

Their new tagline became ‘is your tea fear-free?’ and their new packaging was a bright red box with the copy ‘women tea workers suffer violence. Help us fix it.’

They didn’t hold back.

The high-risk, high-reward communications challenge

Of course, marketing something this charged isn’t easy.

As Holly put it:

“You can’t be light-hearted and jovial and funny… and then talk about sexual violence in the same breath.”

So, they split the messaging:

• PR & content – hardcore, no-nonsense storytelling on the tea industry’s dark truth.

• Out-of-home advertising – massive billboards with “Is your tea fear-free?” plastered across Manchester.

• Social media & in-store – taste-first messaging, focusing on “tastes good, does good.”

What worked

This level of brand reinvention is no easy feat, but there were a few things that Typhoo nailed.

🍵 Disruptive messaging works – but context matters

The fear-free message was provocative and attention-grabbing, but on-pack at the supermarket? It didn’t land the way it needed to.

So they changed the packaging to grab attention with taste first.

On the website or for PR though? Purpose could lead.

🍵 Get the entire business on board

In Holly’s words: “When I joined, EVERYONE – from the board to the management team – believed in this. That’s the only way it works.”

🍵 Know where you’re stealing share from

Typhoo didn’t take aim at Yorkshire Tea (the category leader) but rather Tetley & PG Tips – where they could actually compete.

What happened next?

Unfortunately the story stops short here.

Not long after launching the campaign, Typhoo went into administration.

Not because the rebrand failed, but because of a legacy of financial mismanagement.

A buyer has since stepped in, but only time will tell what happens next.

Despite it all, though, we insisted Holly join us to share her story at Typhoo because it shines a brilliant light on what it really means to transform a brand.

Typhoo embraced transformation wholeheartedly. They didn’t just think about new logos and short lived campaigns. They dug deep and rebuilt themselves internally, as well as externally.

Above all, they showed a mirror up to the murky ethics of the tea industry, setting an example of how things really should be done.

And that’s something we can all aspire to.