20 years ago, without a high school
diploma, a degree, a business plan, or even a comparable product, 17-year old
GT Dave created a unique category with his fermented Kombucha tea, invented a
profitable new market segment, and did it without ever purchasing an ad
(Foster, 2015). Some seasoned
professionals may argue that the now 36-year old GT would do well to alter his
public relation strategies, especially considering the rise of competitors in
the marketplace. Some may question if GT Dave’s public relations strategy is
naïve? Or the work of genius? This paper serves to argue that it is exactly the
personal vision and genius of GT Dave that have created a highly envied niche
market for Kombucha, and that his continued public relations strategy of
letting the GT Dave Kombucha brand speak for itself will serve him well in the
future, with both his devoted followers and new Kombucha converts.
When it comes to defining a public relations
campaign, Cameron, Wilcox, Reber, & Shin (2008) state:
Many people fail to understand that public relations is a process involving numerous subtle and far-reaching aspects beyond media coverage. It includes research and analysis, policy formation, programming, communication, and feedback from numerous publics. (p. 4)
GT Dave essentially bucked traditional public
relations strategies. There was no fanfare for the launch of his product, no
press release, no radio or television spot, and no newspaper article to herald
the arrival of GT Dave’s Kombucha tea. There was no commercial Kombucha tea
category or product being marketed or sold (Foster, 2015) in the United States
(or anywhere else to this writer’s knowledge). GT began producing Kombucha tea
in his home kitchen, with his mother providing samples of the beverage to her
sales girls and customers at I. Magnin, touting its alleged health and beauty
benefits. When, at 17, GT first approached a health food store to stock his
brew, he had little more than a few homemade labeled bottles of Kombucha, his
father’s presence and a magazine article regarding his mother’s promotion of
the drink. With that to recommend him, he sealed his first deal for two cases
of his tea (Foster, 2015).
According to Foster (2015), GT did all of the initial
public relations work and promotion himself, by approaching health food stores
about purchasing and stocking GT Dave’s Kombucha. His mother assisted
eventually by setting up demonstration and sample tables in local targeted
stores. Word of mouth, tasting
opportunities in-store, and a direct pitch to specific area retailers was
successful. Within two years, at the age of 19, GT saw his “precocious
instincts and timing” (i.e. public relations strategy) pay off, when his
Kombucha was sought out by Whole Foods, Inc. (Foster, 2015).
Due to GT’s insistence on strict brewing protocol
(small glass fermenting jars, strict environmental controls, and a set schedule
for the natural carbonation process) and his personal oversight of the process
of brewing and the taste of the Kombucha, GT’s Kombucha has attracted purists
who will drink no other brew. GT, himself, has adamantly refused to compromise
on his personal standards for the brand, and this writer believes that such a
stance, especially from a public relations perspective, has engendered brand
loyalty among consumers, so much that in 2010 GT held 90 percent of the market
(Foster, 2015), even though there were now several brands of competitor
Kombucha on the market. None of them appear to have the same strict production
standards or similar marketing and public relations tactics as GT Dave.
One such competitor, Kombucha Wonder Drink was
launched in 2001 by the same company that brought consumers Stash Tea and Tazo
tea drinks (Strom, 2001). An article in
the Business Journal heralded its arrival, and even implied originality when
owner Stephen Lee declared “It’s going to create a separate category,” and
claimed he had “brewed” the idea since a trip to Russia where he sampled
Kombucha and realized it might have commercial value in the United States.
(Strom, 2001). There does not appear to
be any origination counter-claim by GT Dave, or a claim of copyright or patent
infringement against Kombucha Wonder Drink.
Kombucha Wonder Drink does, however, appear to have a much more
traditional and aggressive public relations campaign than GT Dave, although one
can see that GT Dave has retained a majority market share of the Kombucha
category, as well as much greater brand recognition than Kombucha Wonder
Drink. Perhaps this may be attributed to
Kombucha Wonder Drink’s less rigid production controls, and the fact that it is
pasteurized, and there is a lack of fans or superconsumers (even unsolicited
celebrity endorsements) on which to form a cult following.
An article in Prepared Foods (2010) quoted a 2001
prediction that Kombucha sales “would be $300 million in several years,” and
yet claimed that by 2010 the market “remains a fraction of that.” Then, in 2011, a very brief article in
Entrepreneur Magazine stated that “2009 industry sales were an estimated $100,
and the market experienced double-digit growth over the last few years.” It is
interesting to note that, in an Inc. magazine analysis done in 2015, it was
estimated that consumers would buy approximately $600 million worth of Kombucha
in 2015 (Foster, 2015), quite an increase from both earlier predictions. Inc
also surmised that more than half of the Kombucha purchased would be GT’s
(Foster, 2015).
In 2010, Whole Foods Inc. were worried that Kombucha
drinks were still fermenting and thus contained up to 2.5 percent alcohol
levels, and that they would be subject to criminal prosecution for selling
alcohol illegally (Foster, 2015). Once
Whole Foods withdrew Kombucha from its stores, other retailers did the same.
Supermarket News (2010) ran an article out of Austin Texas regarding the
removal of several brands of Kombucha from Whole Foods Markets, noting that
several Kombucha suppliers agreed to do this voluntarily, and that only one
brand (GT Dave’s) had a disclaimer on his labeling regarding trace amounts of
alcohol in the beverage due to the natural fermentation process, and yet there
were concerns over elevated alcohol levels. GT Dave had a public relations
crisis on his hands, especially when he was faced with two class-action
lawsuits regarding the alleged high alcohol content of his Kombucha, and one
regarding alleged health benefits of the drink.
In order to manage the crisis, GT’s public relations strategy was to
tackle the legal issues first, remove any questionable claims from the
labeling, and to revisit his brewing process to ensure naturally fermented
alcohol levels were within allowable limits.
Again, due to GT’s standards of processing and purity, his Kombucha took
longer than other brands to return to health store shelves (Foster, 2015). The return of GT’s Kombucha to retail sales
was announced with a press release through Media-NewsWire on October 21, 2010,
with the tagline “After months of waiting, fans of GT’s Kombucha, a fermented
tea drink that has become all the rage with health food nuts, can finally
breath a sigh of relief. GT’s is back” (Media-NewsWire, 2010).
To this writer’s knowledge, GT did not have a strategy
in place for the strategic management of conflict, specific issues of this
nature. He did not have a public relations professional to do research for him,
to monitor the media in a proactive way, to gauge a proper reaction to such a
crisis, or to assist in repairing and recovering from a crisis of this nature
(Cameron, et al, 2008, p. 37). It was
only when GT’s Kombucha was ready to return to health food stores that a Press
Release was generated, and interviews granted to various media outlets (albeit
limited). The approach was successful
for GT (and those Kombucha competitors who held fast), as the market increased
by 40 percent in 2011.
Kombucha Kamp (2010) interviewed GT Dave regarding the
recall, and one point of note is that the recall was not initiated by concerns
of the FDA, but by Whole Foods themselves. (Also, one of the main issues was
with GT’s product labeling and alleged claims.)
GT Dave makes an interested comment from a public relations standpoint
in this interview, in that he states he believes there is enough room in the
marketplace for competing brands, as they each bring something different to the
table, and that he does not pay attention to competitors as each flavor he
creates in an expression of his own personality (Kombucha Kamp, 2010). This
really shows GT’s personal vision and standard, and how that impacts his
approach to public relations. To a casual observe it may appear aloof and
unconcerned, or even lofty and detached, yet to the cult following he has
gathered, it speaks of his intent and purity.
Leblanc (2010) acknowledges that the controversy
surrounding alcohol levels in Kombucha allowed the product to “stay resilient
against the drop in consumer spending of bottled beverages, and showed a 25
percent increase over a two-year period.”
When reviewing the crisis from a year’s passing
vantage point, from 2010 to 2011, it does, indeed, appear that the drama
surrounding the withdrawal of Kombucha from store shelves proved a fortunate
attention-getter, and may not have been better at producing results that an
orchestrated conflict may have been. The
fact that the product was taken from the shelves and then underwent extensive testing
and scrutiny by regulators increased attention on the beverage and then
generated public interest and provided consumers with a sense of confidence in
the return of Kombucha to retail sales (Crum, 2011). Whole Foods took a risk by removing Kombucha
from its shelves, but then emerged as an advocate for adherence to industry
standards and compliance (Crum, 2011), but did have a casualty in the loss of
Honest Kombucha as a competitor for GT Dave’s brand.
Although GT Dave does not appear to have utilized
traditional public relations strategies (newspaper, radio, television, hard
copy mailings, etc.), he does appear to have adapted well to social media sites
and modern venues. GT’s website (www.synergydrinks.com)
has a copyright date of 2012, but from this writer’s own searches it was in existence
as early as 2009. The website is relatively simple, with the history of the
company and the Kombucha being the origination story only, with no word about
the controversy of 2010. There are areas
to connect to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, with GT’s Twitter
membership having begun in 2010. The
Twitter account is active with close to 9,000 followers; Facebook has over
77,000 “likes,” and Instagram has close to 11,000 followers.
As GT Dave’s organization is for-profit, it is not
tax-exempt. However, as GT owns 100% of the company, there are no shareholders,
investors, or Board of Directors to report to or to whom dividends are
paid. In contrast, a non-profit
organization such as Feeding American (http://feedingamerica.org/default.aspx),
which is the “nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity” (Careers in
Food, 2015) has tax-exempt status and relies upon grants and donations in order
to operate its programs to fight hunger in the United States, sustain its food
banks in all 50 States, and feed approximately 37 million low-income
people. The public relations tactics
which GT Dave uses as a for-profit organization are not traditional, may seem
unorthodox or naïve, but has proven successful.
In contrast, the public relations strategies used by Feeding America
appear very traditional, more so than GT Dave, utilizing everything from hard
copy mailings, public service announcements and flyers, to new social media
(albeit limited) and a comprehensive website.
Feeding America strives to educate the public on the issue of hunger in
America, as well as to encourage low-income families to use the services of the
local food banks in their area, specifically families with children. Feeding America does indeed “face the
unending public relations task of raising money to pay their expenses, finance
their projects, and recruit volunteer works as well as paid employees”
(Cameron, et al, 2008, p. 407).
An interesting similarity between GT Dave’s for-profit
organization, and a non-profit organization such as Feeding American, may be
that both of these entities assert that their main purpose is in serving the
public interest (Cameron, et al, 2008). GT states that he began marketing his
Kombucha brew “because it helped people, because it touched (his) mom’s health”
(Foster, 2015), “resonated to his core,” and that his mission was to provide a
quality, handcrafted and enlightened health beverage to consumers. He insists
is isn’t about the making money, but authenticity (Foster, 2015). However, with holding 100% of the ownership
of the company, means that 100% of the net profit of GT Dave’s venture go to
GT, and that is considerable. GT is in control of the corporation, as well as
in his public relations campaign, the standards in his brewing and bottling
facility, and even (it appears) the energy with which his employees handle the
brewing process. GT is in full control of the assets of the company as well as
on what information is provided to the public in any public relations campaign. As discussed previously, GT does not appear
to utilize many of the public relations tactics mentioned in Cameron, et al
(2008), except News Releases, potentially Pitch Letters, Interviews with
Magazines and certain media outlets, and website and social media promotion. While non-profit organizations such as Feeding
American must make use of every available tactic they can in order to reach as
wide a target audience as possible for donation gathering and volunteering, as
well as to educate the general public to encourage social and cultural change
So, has GT Dave’s public relations
strategy been naïve? Or the work of genius? From the above data and detail, it
appears the argument favors the genius of GT Dave, to have created an enviable
niche market for his Kombucha. The
writer contends that GT will continue to succeed with the present public
relations strategy of letting his brand speak for itself, and thus increase the
number of devoted followers and new Kombucha converts.
References
Cameron,
G. T., Wilcox, D. L., Reber, B. H., & Shin, J. (2008). Public relations today: Managing competition and conflict. Boston,
MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Careers
in Food (2015). Feeding America. Careers in Food. Retrieved from:
http://www.careersinfood.com/feeding-america-listing-13553.htm
Crum,
H. (2011, August 23). The Kombucha crisis: One year later. Bevnet. Retrieved from:
http://www.bevnet.com/news/2011/the-kombucha-crisis-one-year-later
Foster,
T. (2015, March). The king of Kombucha. Inc,
37(2), 88. Retrieved from: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=b59c2055-cef1-4359-ba5f-2bc0111c7424%40sessionmgr4005&vid=8&hid=4203
Kombucha
Kamp (2010, August 12). Interview with GT Dave about the Kombucha recall update. Kombucha Kamp. Retrieved from:
http://www.kombuchakamp.com/2010/06/interview-with-gt-dave-about-the-kombucha-recall-update.html
LeBlanc,
C. (2010). The Kombucha Tea Recall. University
of Houston Law Center. Retrieved from:
http://www.law.uh.edu/healthlaw/perspectives/2010/leblanc_kombucha.pdf
Media-NewsWire
(2010, October 21). Kombucha tea producer reworks formula to reduce alcohol
content. Media-NewsWire. Retrieved from:
http://media-newswire.com/release_1130339.html
Newswatch.
(2010, June 28). Supermarket News,
(26). Retrieved from ProQuest database.
Strom,
S. (2001, August 3). Kombucha taking aim at healthy drink niche. Business Journal-Portland, (23).
Retrieved from:
http://search.proquest.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/docview/225369224
Time
for tea. (2010, May). Prepared Foods,
(5). 41. Retrieved from:
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=ba1f5ec5-18a1-4d1c-ab3c-bc67bf3364b9%40sessionmgr111&vid=7&hid=103
Wang,
J. (2011, January). Make mine on the rocks. Entrepreneur,
(1). 62.
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