In a world where 'hustle culture' reigns supreme and needing a break is seen as weak, Millennial workers are reverting to coffee and energy drinks to power through their burnout – leaving them more exhausted than ever before. Despite offering a ready-to-drink, revitalizing, real-brewed tea experience, Pure Leaf Iced Tea was not on their radar as a solution to overcoming the mid-afternoon slump. To combat lagging sales, increase brand relevance and reestablish Pure Leaf as a must-have beverage for consumers, our mission was clear: position Pure Leaf as the ultimate choice for real, meaningful revitalization – elevating it from being just another beverage to a leading brand in culture.
Taking a real break is frowned upon in American society. Despite widespread burnout, stepping away is seen as a weakness that hinders productivity, especially at work. Our groundbreaking State of the Break report revealed three in five American workers struggle to take a break during the workday, with over half feeling too busy or interrupted to recharge -- even though 63% say they feel exhausted when they skip a break. Still, two thirds of workers say a quality break helps them come back feeling recharged for what’s next. As a champion of revitalization, Pure Leaf saw this as an opportunity to intervene and help the burnt-out American workforce experience the power of a midday break.
To lead this charge, we partnered with Lindsay Lohan – Millennial icon, busy mom, actress and producer -- to rally Americans to unapologetically take revitalizing Tea Breaks. Just returning from an extended break herself, Lindsay was a credible and relatable voice in our campaign to celebrate the revitalizing power of taking a break when overworked and overstretched.
With Lindsay as our spokesperson, we reached consumers across earned, owned, and paid channels. On Instagram and TikTok, we collaborated with creators to share funny tea break stories, developed educational posts featuring our study, and created videos promoting the benefits of breaks. We offered downloadable GIFs, ‘away on a tea break’ message drafts, and research-backed tips to help Americans participate by setting better boundaries and maximizing their breaks. We further incentivized workers to take breaks through a free, nationwide Pure Leaf product giveaway.
But to normalize better break culture and create lasting change, igniting a cultural conversation was not enough. We had to drive change institutionally, empowering organizations to change from within. In partnership with Mind Share Partners, we launched the Pure Leaf Tea Break Grant Program, empowering some of the busiest workers in America -- small businesses and nonprofits -- to implement initiatives that promote employee wellbeing and revitalization without monetary loss. By combining bold storytelling, strategic partnership and tangible, clear action, we sparked a cultural movement to rewrite the narrative around breaks across the country.
The Pure Leaf Tea Break campaign ignited a national conversation about toxic break culture, exceeding our expectations and delivering impact beyond our objectives. Our campaign garnered widespread media attention, landing coverage in outlets like Access Hollywood, E! News, BuzzFeed, and Ad Age, resulting in 2.3B impressions across one hundred media placements and surpassing benchmarks by 130% and 233%, respectively. The campaign drove a 25-point increase in purchase intent, a 17-point increase in sentiment that ‘Pure Leaf helps people take more revitalizing breaks,’ and a 21-point increase in sentiment that ‘Pure Leaf advocates for improved physical and mental wellbeing.’
Post-campaign results showed the campaign drove strong brand consideration and purchase intent among our Millennial female target audience. 77% agreed ‘Pure Leaf is a leader in promoting better workplace breaks.’ Pure Leaf is also now the leading penetration driver for ambient ready to drink tea, increasing 1.3 points of household penetration versus one year ago.
Social media also drove significant conversation, generating over 52.3K organic social impressions, 147.6MM boosted TikTok impressions, and 7.6MM boosted Instagram impressions.
The Pure Leaf Tea Break Grants program received applications from nearly 1,200 small businesses and nonprofits, representing up to 18,000 workers and highlighting an appetite for better workplace break culture. Experts from Mind Share Partners selected eleven impactful initiatives to award, and grant winners are planning to implement better workplace break cultures through AI transcription services, weekly office games, lip-sync contests, and more to ensure all staff can take meaningful breaks.
