7 to Heaven - April 14, 2009

I'm currently taking an advanced advertising class at a local college to help sharpen up my ad-man skills. It's been an interesting class, and last night we had to do a down and dirty branding exercise.

The assignment: Name and package a new product that Red Bull is producing.

The what: Red Bull is coming out with a warm tea that makes you sleepy, sleepy, sleepy

Timeline: 15 minutes (WTF mate, that's not enough time, but alas it was)

In a semi-state of panic, our team was able to figure out the following.

- Red Bull's brand is all about instant gratification for the person who wants it now. So, how can we leverage that? We decided to take that same on-demand, instantaneous brand equity behind Red Bull and apply it to this warm tea.
- The name had to reflect what the Red Bull brand was all about, and at the same time give the consumer an indication about what the product was going to do for them
- The packaging needed to tap into the consumer's deep-seeded associations of things that remind them of sleep and getting ready for bed
- The target audience had to be sleep deprived, stressed-out, I want it now-type individuals. Sure they could be moms, but mostly we were shooting for the younger demographic
- The communication for this product would take place in urban areas where our primary targets most likely live

So what did we come up with?

The product name = 7 to Heaven

The packaging = A coffee cup style mug. The handle lifts up to crack the chemical pouch that instantly heats the tea.