Mention a Long Island iced tea to most people, and they’ll probably remember falling off a bar stool (if they remember that much). But there’s another Long Island Iced Tea out there—a ready-to-drink, non-alcoholic brand that, fresh off a new redesign, is looking to grab a bigger share of a $4.8 billion segment.
Of course, with tea titans like Arizona and Snapple, that task won’t be easy, as CEO Philip Thomas admits. “Yes, the iced-tea category is crowded—but I love a challenge,” he said. Besides, he added, the competition has a shared flaw: “They look and feel cheap.”
That’s why Tigre Creative, the firm that executed the brand’s reimaging, took pains to elevate Long Island’s look by borrowing some of the region’s aesthetic trappings. “The brand story is about summer fun in the Hamptons,” said Tigre’s Tammy Vaserstein, whose treatment features “beachy” elements like a painted sign on a background of whitewashed planks and illustrated fruit so vivid it looks like it just tumbled off a farm stand.
But isn’t it still confusing that this virgin brew shares a name with one of the world’s most potent libations? “It’s actually been a blessing because it informed the witticisms and taglines,” said project consultant Arthur Gallego. Examples include “No ID required” and “Buy your family a round.” And even if those puns don’t make shoppers smile, Long Island’s price (a bottle costs about a buck) surely will.
