Spill the Tea: school comp inspires real-world campaign

Three Brisbane high-schoolers in year 11 are set to star in a ‘Spill the Tea’ social media campaign for a Queensland tea company after impressing its bosses with their real-world marketing ideas at a school competition run by QUT.

QUT Business School held its 10th annual BlueShift business case competition, with a record number of more than 120 high school students taking part.

BlueShift challenges the school teams to analyse a real business and its operating environment, and then present recommendations.

This year’s client was Origin Tea, which is headquartered in Brisbane and was co-founded by QUT business graduate Chris Seaton.

Seaton has asked the winning team — Charlotte Cragog, Grace Bell and Simrat Gill — to become brand ambassadors for the company and help with its mission to build a tea culture for Millennials and Gen Z. The trio all drink tea at home with their families and said fruit-flavoured teas and iced teas were the most popular tea types among their friends.

“In my circle of family and friends, I only know a handful of people who actively drink tea on a daily basis, and they tend to lean towards iced tea if they are from a younger generation.

“With so many new and innovative flavours arising in traditional teas, as well as iced tea ranges, I am hopeful that Gen Z will grow to incorporate tea into their daily lifestyle,” Charlotte said.

Seaton said the Spill the Tea campaign would involve Charlotte, Grace and Simrat in a series of videos produced at the company’s head office and warehouse, and a shoot at a local cafe.

“Our marketing team has been working hard behind the scenes, collaborating with the girls on the shoot preparation, including mood boards and content planning,” Seaton said.

Image caption: Origin Tea founder Chris Seaton with St John Fisher College teacher Erin McSween, students Simrat Gill, Charlotte Cragog and Grace Bell, and QUT Professor Larry Neale (Associate Dean – Learning and Teaching, Faculty of Business and Law). Image credit: QUT.