With Love, Signed Heidi
By April on Jan 28 Filed In Food & Beverage, Sweet Consumers 1 Comment
Being the Consumer Services Manager for Sweet Leaf Tea is both fun and challenging. I go through all emails, phone calls and social media channels to gather consumer insight for our company. While it’s true that some of the “insight” are complaints, MOST of what I hear/read is positive and comes from a place of love. This brings me to the email below from a very passionate consumer, Heidi Zerbe.
The Zebers
Hello. I just wanted to thank you for not only making such an excellent product, but for creating a (what I consider) healthy addiction, considering the alternatives. Your Mint and Honey tea is my idea of heaven in a cup. Having recently gotten married, I have taken it upon myself to teach my husband his new role: late night Sheetz runs for your fabulous-ness. (It’s a word. Look it up.) I crave it like a pregger woman wants her Krispy Kremes–although I know that when we do decide to delve into the miracle of childbirth, my cravings for Mint and Honey tea will only increase…thus giving me reason to name our first born after you. (Just so you know, this will not be for some time, although I have to admit, it’s fun to tell the hubby I am just to watch the look on his face.) All this said…I love you. And although our local Sheetz convenience store is the only location I can find your tea, and they only carry maybe three flavors, I still want to thank you for your presence in my town. You rock pretty hardcore.
But I bet you already knew that.
NOLA Jazz & Heritage Fest Line Up Announced
By Alexandra on Jan 15 Filed In ACL, Events, Food & Beverage, Live Music, Sweet Consumers, Vacation 1 Comment
Stevie Wonder at Jazz Fest 2008.
What do you think about the lineup for this year’s NOLA Jazz Festival? The good news is if you missed Pearl Jam at ACL last year, they’re headlining. And if you missed Lionel Richie at any point over the last 30 years you can see him too. Austin’s own Marcia Ball will be performing the first weeekend as well as Simon and Garfunkel, My Morning Jacket and The Black Crowes. (I was able to see The Black Crowes at Rothbury last summer and they’re awesome live.)
The second weekend offers much more for my taste with Richie Havens, Elvis Costello, Band of Horses, Old Crow Medicine Show, Gipsy Kings, the list goes on and on. Click here to see the complete line up.
Let us know if you like the list and if you’ll be making the trip to the birthplace of jazz to see it for yourself.
Festival dates-
Weekend 1: April 23-25
Weekend 2: April 29-May 2
Looking forward to 2010
By Alexandra on Dec 28 Filed In Activities, Vacation Add a Comment
What have you been up to this year? Really think about it. What have you been doing?
If working is the first thing that comes to mind, you’re not alone. Work consumes most of our lives. But is that all you’ve been up to?
As 2009 comes to a close and you reflect on what went right and wrong, think hard about what you did for yourself this year. Did you make a new friend? Did you learn to cook? Have you run further than you ever thought you could? Overcome a fear? Take dance lessons? Did you volunteer in your community? If nothing comes to mind, you have some work to do in the New Year.
As life zooms past, we often forget to take time out to look at the big picture. We move way too fast. It’s important we do what we can to balance and simplify our lives and make sure we have something in our life we’re working on besides our career. Start now and commit to making 2010 different and more abou YOU. Make sure the next time someone asks you what you’ve been up to you have something you’re very proud of to share.
What Gets You Out of Bed in the Morning?
By April on Sep 24 Filed In Social Media, Sweet Consumers 2 Comments
I wear many hats here at Sweet Leaf Tea and it’s not just because I can’t decide what to wear. I am the Consumer Services Manager, which includes answering emails and phone calls from consumers like yourself, along side of running our social media efforts (Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, The Sip) and also acting as the SLT receptionist. When you have multiple jobs it is likely that you will have a preference as to which one you dig more than the other, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I am madly in-love with working with our consumers.
Social media first appears as simply a marketing tool and would have nothing to do with consumer services, but really it’s all encompassing. Try to look at it as another way to reach your audience. I can wait and wonder what the next complaint might be from a consumer, or I can peruse Twitter or FB to see what the public is saying about SLT and respond to them in an open and transparent way. While doing this, it’s inevitable that I’ll make connections with our consumers. CONNECTION is what makes my job worth waking up every day to do. Knowing that I have a chance to make a new friend/connection and to help build a community around our brand is the lemon & lime in my unsweetened tea.
Do you know what pushes the cool-factor over the edge for me personally? Meeting our fans/friends/followers/all-around awesome consumers, in-person that’s what! If you follow any of the Sweet Leaf Marketing Tea’m online and see us in the real world, come up and say hey! We want to put a name with the tweet or comment and might even want a picture with you while sharing a tea. Now, that’s CONSUMER LOVE!
@PhilWest & @RockmygypsySoul (Anslee Connell) at the Sugar Mamas Bday Party
@TaylorSchaeffer & @Bfried (Brandon) at lunch
@UTexJim (Jim Cook) and Me
It Feels Like the First Time..
By Guest on Aug 26 Filed In ACL, Austin, Texas, Live Music 4 Comments
-Guest post by Tracy Marino (Uber fan of our Brand)
Sometimes memories are sparked by environment. Whether that’s fed by sight, smell or sound. We all have these memories but it’s rare for me to have one associated with a specific brand. And yet I do for Sweet Leaf Tea.
It was one of the first years of the Austin City Limits Music Festival…2002 or 2003…and I was lucky enough to have a pass for the VIP Grove. I learned quickly that the Austin heat and running around Zilker Park sure can build up a thirst. So there I was, walking up to the beverage bar and, always a sucker for good branding, looked with interest at the Sweet Leaf Tea bottles. Playful and authentic, my eye was drawn in. I said to the person at the bar that I had never seen that brand before and she told me how great the different flavors were, either by themselves or with a little alcohol to spice things up.
So while I wove in and out of the enthusiastic throngs and heard the sound of music both loud and softly wafting into the Grove, I tried every Sweet Leaf Tea flavor they had. All were great. But I was especially bowled over by the Mint and Honey Green Tea…so much so that even when I drink it now, I feel a bit transported.
I also introduced a family member to Sweet Leaf. In 2004, my brother Rick came to visit from Florida and so I know the exact moment when he tried it for the first time, also at the ACL Festival. Trying something new is as fun as getting someone you know to try something you dig, yes? And for my brother and I, who both love music, tying a brand to such an immersive experience really makes an impact.
Sweet Leaf Tea is delicious, no doubt. But even sweeter to me is the fact that drinking it is forever linked to fun and music…two elements that the brand embraces and personifies!
