Taiwanese tea brand sets up 'Ministry Of Doing

Nothing'
Jenny Chan
Source: Case Studies on WARC, ROI Festival, October 2019
Downloaded from WARC

Real Leaf (a bottled tea brand owned by Coca Cola) in Taiwan deepened the value proposition of its
new green tea product into a rallying cry to destress and chill out.

The original use of insights derived from the prevailing overwork culture in Taiwanese
corporations resonated profoundly with target consumers.
Key product benefit of relaxation from active ingredient L-theanine was downplayed but still
incorporated into issues that concerned the wider society, thereby increasing people's interest in
the new offer.
There were more than ten million (10,714,220) bottles of Real Leaf green tea sold in the quarter
after the campaign, 21% more than the same period last year.

Campaign details
Award show: ROI Festival
Award category: Creative Integration
Award level: Gold
Brand: Real Leaf
Brand owner: Coca-Cola
Campaign name: 'Ministry Of Doing Nothing'
Agency: Ogilvy Taipei
Industry category: Non-alcoholic Drinks
Release date: June 2018
Budget: RMB 2-5 million
Region: Taiwan
Background
Taiwan consumes more than 700 million litres of ready-to-drink (RTD) tea a year. With more than 21 bottled tea
brands sharing this market, Taiwan is one of the most competitive tea markets in the world. Most rivals have
similar advertising tones of voices and little difference in product benefits, leading to homogeneity in the
Taiwanese RTG tea sector.

For the past five years, Real Leaf (owned by Coca Cola) has ranked second in terms of market share, lagging
far behind the top brand, Tea King (owned by Uni-President). In 2018, the former launched a new green tea
product that contains a particularly relaxing active ingredient L-theanine.

Objectives
- To launch the new product successfully and catch up in market share with Tea King

Insights
Some Taiwanese companies have been proponents of the 996 work culture endorsed by Jack Ma. The long
hours and breakneck pace of work have made Taiwanese employees feeling overworked and on the verge of
collapse. Zhou Yihui, creative director of Ogilvy Taiwan, shared that Taiwan has the sixth-longest working hours
in the world.

Solution
Ogilvy broke the routine of tea ads always highlighting product features and raised that bar to the societal level.
Leveraging the overwork issue, its Real Leaf campaign stressed that it is not just the individual who needs to
relax, but the entire society.

A tongue-in-cheek 'Ministry Of Doing Nothing' was set up, with Japanese star Hiroshi Abe appointed as the
'minister'. Abe, who often plays the 'boss' character in Japanese dramas, put his authoritative actor persona to
good use in the 'ministry', establishing a new workplace philosophy to 'do nothing before you do anything'.

The campaign was then executed in three stages:

1. A faux press conference was held to announce the establishment of the 'ministry'

2. The proposed 'laws' were released online in a key 2:40 video on Youtube and Facebook, urging consumers
to do exercises like 'roll with the flow', 'recline like the Buddha', and 'hold your head up'

3. The philosophy was communicated in follow-up ads showing Abe making surprise visits to offices to halt the
practice of overtime in exchange for the new Real Leaf green tea
Results
- Within one month, the 'ministry' recruited more than 60,000 advocates online who produced UGC content of
them posing with the new product

- Leadership approval ratings for the make-believe 'minister' were as high as 92.8%, far higher than actual
heads of states in the real world

- Media investment ROI reached 124%

- Brand preference attained 14.3%, which is a new high for the brand in the past six years.

- There were more than ten million (10,714,220) bottles of Real Leaf green tea sold in the quarter after the
campaign, 21% more than the same period last year.

- At the end of 2018, Real Leaf became the market leader, surpassing Tea King and breaking the impasse in the
past five years.

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