Pukka Herbs - Brand and Customer Experience Analysis

When returning from London to Istanbul, I often spend a lot of time in the tea section while doing grocery shopping. This time I came across Pukka Herbs and its packaging caught my attention. Although packaging in London is generally very successful, I really liked the hand-drawn packages of Pukka and the texture of their packages, which made me feel how meticulous they are. At the same time, the fact that they have a wide variety of flavors was very attractive.

As I didn't have much space and it was a bit more expensive than regular teas - but I was sure that the flavors of the tea would be amazing - I bought five different teas and returned to Istanbul.

As soon as I got home, I wanted to open the packages right away. As soon as I opened them, a delicious aroma greeted me, and the interior design of the packages was also very meticulous - the fact that the interior was also designed, and such sentences were written/thought of, is a separate matter, and this interior design was conceived in 2014, what an innovative approach!

In addition to the design of the single tea bags, they are completely sustainable. When removed from the packaging, with no trace of plastic taste that comes from other tea bags, is fantastic! I don't even want to touch other tea bags, and my stocks are running low unfortunately:)

It is obvious that this brand does not only sell tea. It also brings you wellbeing and the whole experience of feeling good, and all the details of the product have been thoughtfully designed to offer you a very different experience. The "wellbeing" section on their website also proves this, as they share their knowledge by offering different contents.

Moreover, take a look at their recommendations for heartbreaks:

I think Pukka is one of the best benchmarks for tea brands when it comes to CX. Like every brand I love, I thoroughly researched Pukka, and they were founded in 2001 by Tim Westwell and Sebastian Pole. They were acquired by Unilever in 2017, and their current CEO is Anuradha Chugh since 2021.

They have B Lab UK and Fair for Life certifications, and they donate 1% of their revenue to environmental and social causes. In 2019, they also became a carbon-neutral brand. Moreover, 22% of their employees have formal education in herbal medicine, plant medicine, or nutrition. They highlight these employees on their social media platforms, and they advocate for the need for a Herbal Revolution on their website.

They describe their mission on their website as follows:

"Our herbal creations are crafted to connect as many people as possible to the beauty and power of nature. We share our knowledge and campaign for a healthier world, always trying to lead by example. Pukka people are truly connected to this mission and to bring it to life without compromise; from the quality of our organic practitioner-grade herbs fairly and sustainably sourced from around the world, to the organic cotton string used to stitch our tea bags together. We continually challenge ourselves to be better."

On Instagram, they mainly use conceptual photos and real-life situations for marketing. I was hoping for more informative content from a brand that is so environmentally conscious and mindful. I want to see informative details in addition to product photos or lifestyle content from such brands on their social media. It's not a requirement, of course, but I don't follow a page just to see product boxes, even if it's a lovebrand for me.

Is it too much to expect this from brands, I don't know, but one thing is for sure: When the person you are at the moment of entering an Instagram page and the person you become when you exit it are different, it can encourage you to follow that Instagram page. Content marketing is actually turning into this around the world. Of course, you don't want all the content to be like this because it can also be boring, but sharing the know-how you have can be something that a brand like Pukka can do very well, even though it requires a lot of effort/cost... It's possible to say that they used to do this much more regularly and frequently in the past.

I hope they increase the number of informative content and improve their quality, as I am sure they have valuable information to share. I also recommend looking into what they do in terms of sustainability, although I haven't touched on it much. I believe Pukka is a very valuable brand.

This is my first analysis article, and I felt my shortcomings while writing it, but I wouldn't have written it at all if I had waited to overcome them :) I believe my writing will improve with your feedback. Your comments are so welcomed.

Turkish version of the analysis is here.

Best regards,

Elif