one. ellis island tea is gone now? it s gone. when i first saw the black star label, my instinct was, this is it, this is going to be the label we use going forward and it kind of scared me. it scared me how quick i was willing to jump and forget about ellis island tea. was speechless and didn t know how to react, but i would definitely say that was the biggest surprise. i m surprised nyala is as open as she is in taking suggestions and even as extreme as thinking about brand name. that was a surprise. a phrase on the label really caught nigh ala s attention jamaican sweet tea. with no other tea called
$100 million idea? time will tell. i feel like this is the big break i ve been waiter for all this time. i feel very, very excited. it s like a breath of fresh air and like i m just getting started. a quick footnote to this story. a few days ago we got a call from her. she told us after the camera crew left and experts went home, she really loved the new label designs but she wasn t ready to give up the name ellis island tea, so the guys went back to the drawing board and this is the final version of the label. we want you to weigh in. should she have went with black star or keep the name ellis island tea. there s a lot of talk. i wonder if it s growing your business or not.
came as any surprise to nailah. the first, packaging. we took her to her local whole foods to check out the tea display. so, all these brands are local. it doesn t pop. the label is not serving its purpose. when you are on shelf next to 30 other iced teas, 100 other beverages, you have to pop. i need help with my packaging. i need a lot of help. i have no idea what i m doing with that. then there s the distribution. right now, ellis island tea is in 300 stores, including whole foods and krogers. that sounds impressive. while it s a nice start, it s nowhere near where she needs to be. the threshold of when a beverage brand becomes profitable is probably after say 15,000-20,000 stores.
distribution. having a great product is only part of what it needs to be successful in a retail environment. one of the things to look out for is what the potential strategy and partners are going to be with the party. this makeover begins with scott miller, founder of core strategy group and craig binkley. they specialize in helping insurgents branz find a national market and get to the next level. you have to take what they give you. you have to do the doable. that s the first principal. at first, scott was impressed with nilah s media presence. i looked at all the video of you on tv and i was thinking, okay, she s an up and come onner. everyone has their eye on her. but they were so focused on you. he noticed almost all the press she got focused on her charming personality a overlooked her product, ellis island tea. i thought, no wonder this brand is not getting out of the starting box because this woman is too attractive. craig and scott suggested she needs to shi
it on the drink. to do that, she needs an exciting brand identity for her tea that will grab people s attention. i m still trying to figure out the identity of ellis island tea. yes, it s a tea, but what kind of tea? building a brand identity is no easy task. it starts by asking lots and lots of questions. what do you want people to feel when they re drinking it? the first thing i always get is oh, my god, it s so smooth. then think say it tastes like real tea. as we define what this brand stands for and what makes it unique among its consumer is how do we make sure we have a wall around that. next step, scott and craig contacted skid more studios. skidmore volunteered to hip nii a lah create labels, packaging and maybe even a new name, eye catching designs that will get noticed on a store shelf and show what makes her tea different from anyone else out there. then katia and drew arrived with