Tetley Tea’s “Farmers First Hand”
Creative Direction·Digital Content·Photography·Production·Social Media Campaign
About this project
Digital Content & Social Media Campaign, 2011
Pioneering social media project connecting consumers directly with tea farmers in Malawi and South Africa through interactive content.
A high profile and influential panel of sustainability experts nominated Farmers First Hand as a runner up in the Communicating Sustainability Category. Farmers First Hand was conceived and launched in support of the business’ commitment to source 100% of the tea for its Tetley brand from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms by 2016. Tata Global Beverages’ collaboration with the Rainforest Alliance represents its first major sustainability initiative as it implements its strategy and the first major step on Tata Global Beverages’ journey to becoming a more sustainable business.
Farmers First Hand is all about connection through conversation; audience involvement and participation is central to the Farmers First Hand concept. The project evolved from the idea of enabling direct contact between consumers and producers, allowing them to have a dialogue and an interaction that previously hadn’t been possible or attempted.
Farmers First Hand uses a dedicated page on the social networking site Facebook as its principal communication channel. The Raven team was tasked with flying out to Malawi to film a recruited group of smallholder farmers and estate workers This was followed up by filming at the Rooibos plantations in Clanwilliam, South Africa. The interviews with the farmers were in conjunction with the sustainability experts panel, using phones to send daily updates via text message which were then uploaded to the Facebook page. Consumers, or Facebook “fans” of the page, would then make comments and ask questions which in turn were sent back to the farmers for their response. These responses were filmed for the Facebook page and enabled conversations on various topics. Topics ranged from aspects of daily life such as meal times and work, to family and social life as well as community and cultural events. Raven produced photos and video stories to be posted on to the Facebook page.
|| CREATIVE DIRECTION, PRODUCTION, PHOTOGRAPHY
Raven Media
|| PRODUCED FOR
Tata Global Beverages
Raven was tasked with producing, directing and filming on location in Malawi and South Africa. With two weeks of filming in multiple locations. The client, Tata Global Beverages, was based out of London and joined on the production. Communication was key to make sure that the multiple location and shoot requirements for the production was a success. The final footage was edited by Raven for delivery to the client in the UK. The content was released on the Farmers First Hand Facebook page and Youtube channel as part of Tetley Tea’s Farmers First Hand campaign for 2011. The campaign was nominated for the Guardian Sustainability Award in 2012.
