Yorkshire Tea Tarts Up Bakewell Town for New Flavour Launch

Imagine hiking in the Peak District. It’s been lovely but proper tiring. A check of the phone shows that the town of Bakewell is just half a mile away. A brew and a tart. That sounds perfect. Or, for anyone lucky enough to have been in the area on July 14th they would have been able to have their cake and drink it when the town was taken over by the UK tea brand.

To launch its new Cherry Bakewell Brew, Lucky Generals, Goodstuff, Jaywing and Yorkshire Tea, with a bit of help from Great British Bake Off Junior presenter and Influencer Liam Charles, did a proper takeover of the town that is home to the tasty tart.
Part of the 'Stir it up' platform designed to promote the company’s ever-expanding range of flavoured black teas, the takeover resulted in the creation of a series of engaging films with local people, sharing moments of discovery and delight around the new brew. Four 30-second social-first films, along with various shorter individual films, will be released across social channels on July 22nd and 29th. Media was handled by Goodstuff with social and content handled by Jaywing.

In the first film, Liam enters Bakewell on a cake hunt in true food show style, but comes up short, finding only Bakewell brews. On tasting the divine drink, he takes to the street in the follow-up films to canvass passers-by for their thoughts, which ranged from 'A solid 9' to two cheeky ladies proclaiming that “we are all Bakewell tarts”.

However, the show is stolen by an Australian woman who pulls up her sleeve to reveal a Yorkshire Tea tattoo. And she wasn't a plant: she ran over to the film crew on the day.

The takeover began with the addition of 'Twinned with Yorkshire Tea' on the Welcome to Bakewell sign, followed by a further takeover of one of their famous bakeries, The Original Bakewell Pudding Shop, where the tarts and puddings were replaced with boxes of Yorkshire Tea Cherry Bakewell Brew.

By collaborating closely with the original Bakewell shop and the wider community, Yorkshire Tea invited consumers to engage with the new product in a fun and welcoming way, genuinely rooted in the Bakewell heritage. Signage was put up around the town and bikes decked out with branded boxes peddled around all day while walkers had boards on with messages such as, 'Tart up your tea' and 'Tea with a cherry on top'.

Media and activation planning and buying were led by Goodstuff. Creative from Lucky Generals was brought to life in Bakewell through adwalkers, branded bikes, and AdVans. The national broadcast of Yorkshire Tea’s exploits in Bakewell, through a partnership with JOE Media and social amplification supported by Jaywing, helped deliver national reach and engagement.

Additional shopper assets with the same messages will bring the campaign into retail spaces, while editorial and social content via a partnership with Joe Media will amplify reach and engagement.

Penny Webster, brand manager at Yorkshire Tea, added, “Our Cherry Bakewell brew is a nod to a British tea-time classic, so we knew we needed to come and get the approval of the people of Bakewell before unveiling it to the nation. We loved being part of the town for the day and want to thank everyone who helped us make it the best launch yet. We seem to have got the thumbs up for our new brew!”

​Nick Bird and Lee Smith, creative directors at Lucky Generals said, “Thanks to Yorkshire Tea, you can now have your cake and drink it.”

Luke Talibudeen, business director at Goodstuff says, "This wasn’t just a flavour launch - it was about bringing two beloved British icons together. Making Bakewell the epicentre of our media plan, then broadcasting it nationally, was the only proper thing to do. Every element of our media was designed to spark intrigue, delight, and drive trial."

Alice Rowe, paid organic lead at Jaywing, said, “Jaywing's social first strategy underpins the content and campaign flighting across both paid and organic social channels, aligning formats and placements to maximise impact. In the week leading up to the event we were teasing social media followers with a digital Bakeover, amplifying the new product launch beyond Derbyshire. The Jaywing Organic Social Media team were also on hand on the day to capture behind the scenes content for Yorkshire Tea's social channels, as well as making sure all of the campaign footage was shot with a social-first perspective.