The idea for Honest Tea came about in 1997, when Yale School of Management graduate Seth Goldman stopped for a post-workout beverage at a local convenience store. Finding only soft drinks and teas saturated with high amounts of sugar, Goldman was inspired to create a new beverage for health-conscious customers. The Honest Tea Company sought to provide a natural, barely sweetened bottled tea with a fraction of the calories of other teas.

Honest Tea first used Fresh Fields to distribute its product. In one short summer, Honest Tea became the best-selling tea at Fresh Fields stores and expanded to other supermarkets and grocery stores, achieving similar success.........

Questions

1. What role did marketing research and customer insights play in developing Honest Tea?

2. What are the key factors that contributed to the success of Honest Tea?

3. How should Coca-Cola grow the Honest Tea brand Should Honest Tea stay relatively independent, or should it be more closely incorporated into the Coca-Cola company and draw on Coca-Cola’s corporate culture and business expertise?