Harney & Sons Fine Teas
Brewing a strong relationship with a world renowned tea company
UNFOLDING STORIES MAKE A MAIL ORDER TEA CATALOG AN INSPIRING READ FOR CUSTOMERS
Harney & Sons Fine Teas have a tremendous following for their more than 300 excellent teas. Tea connoisseurs and enthusiasts welcome the arrival of the mail order catalog and frequently order many hundreds of dollars worth of teas, or arrive at the Harney & Sons stores with numerous post-it notes marking teas they want to try. Go Gladys designed and wrote all of the content and worked the dual themes of “Teatime is Anytime” and “Tea for Two,” to unfold throughout the book. Harney & Sons have begun growing their own hemp and have launched The Hemp Division CBD elixirs and tinctures as well as other wellness products that are distinguished by the fact that the Harney family have tremendous skills in blending, flavoring and packaging their products. This year’s catalog also encompassed a new line of shelf-stable products called the Harney Pantry. Making this catalog flow elegantly over 82 pages is a challenge that Go Gladys welcomes and which we enjoy as a wonderful collaboration with our clients.
THEMES OF HISTORY AND ENJOYMENT OF TEA MAKE GOOD TEA A GOOD READ
Harney & Sons make it their mission to educate and excite their customers about the huge variety of flavors, looks, sensations and experiences to be found in their remarkable array of fine teas. Go Gladys and the Harney family enjoy our collaborations and as the catalog grows in pages, the scope of what we can accomplish also increases. This year we filled 72 pages to engage our audience with stories from the origins of tea in China, then Japan and its spread around the world. At the same time, we wove in the experience of tasting and enjoying Harney tea. A short story about Jasmine tea, puzzles involving tea, recipes, and in-depth product stories make it a “magalog,” a hybrid between a magazine and a catalog. This catalog has won a platinum MarCom award and been well received by Harney fans and new adopters.
TEA LOVERS LOVE TO READ ABOUT TEA
Go Gladys has worked with Harney & Sons Fine Teas since 2010 when Ashworth designed catalogs, suitable for both print and online distribution and taking an educational approach to the world of Harney & Sons Fine Teas. Harney returned to Ashworth in 2016 and working closely with the family members who manage the successful tea enterprise, we developed a new magalog format. Blending strong visuals and good content, the tea catalogs have become very popular.
THEMES AND FLOW HOLD ATTENTION IN LONGFORM PRINT PIECES
When we begin a long form piece, the first step is to layout a pagination document that enables us to see where the stories and content will eventually be placed. Working with the client marketing department we explore overarching themes for the particular catalog so that the piece has an internal logic that makes it a more in-depth read for the consumer but handled in a light and entertaining way. Once content is settled we create stories both visually and verbally and look for bright ideas that will make large amounts of subject matter interesting, entertaining and motivating to the reader. Harney has more than 300 teas, pure teas, blends, and flavored teas that are the particular art form of the Harney family. When a client has 300 fascinating products, we’re never short of material and can explore the extraordinary history and culture of tea in many different ways.
THE TAKEAWAY
“So I finally got around to exploring the latest Harney catalog and want you to know it’s probably the best tea catalog I’ve ever seen. Starting with the astonishingly sophisticated collection of teas offered, I think the catalog gets an A Plus in every respect— The photography, your writing, variety of interesting lines (Royal Palaces, etc.) and all the rest. Please tell all concerned they have reason to be proud of this work.” – James Norwood Pratt, a world renowned tea connoisseur
