Yorkshire Tea: How to Build a human brand
6 October 2025
Speaking at MAD//North 2025 earlier this year, Strategy & Innovation Director at Taylors of Harrogate Dom Dwight shared with the MAD//North audience how Yorkshire Tea has been leveraging the power of “humanness” to build up and create a brand that not only resonates with consumers on a personal level, but also stands out from competitors.
The power of TV ads to entertain rather than interrupt
Drilling down into how Yorkshire Tea best connects with their consumers, Dwight highlights the power of TV for the brand, stating that “Yorkshire Tea would be nowhere without linear TV.” Although he notes that TV has been far from “static” in its developments and evolution, as well as the developments in media channels more broadly and how the divides between them are “blurring”, Dwight states that in his view, “the medium screen is the centre of attention for now.”
Dom also highlights the perception of TV from the consumer's perspective, and notes that studies have shown that TV appears as a more “trusted” medium to the consumer, as well as noting that when appearing in a “professional context”, TV ads feel “less intrusive” in comparison to other mediums, and thus garner greater attention as well as resonance with consumers. In an era full of content and chaos, Dwight points out that there is both “a duty” and “opportunity” for brands to be “reliable”, “trustworthy”, and “add value to the consumers life”.
When situating this in the context of Yorkshire Tea, Dom shares one of Yorkshire Tea’s latest ads featuring the actress Sarah Lancashire, and stresses that “amongst all the strategic platform thinking…we also need to think about, is it entertaining?” Ensuring you have an ad that aligns with research and metrics is key, but equally so is ensuring that it resonates and will be appreciated by your consumers.
Harnessing “humanness” on social
Pointing out an additional key pillar of Yorkshire Tea’s humanness and marketing, Dom shares a few examples of how the brand both interacts and encourages interaction from consumers across social, stating that social is “essentially almost like our soul”. By taking the time to interact and acknowledge consumers’ “love for the product” through customer images and stories, something that “would be easy…to overlook this stuff”, Yorkshire Tea have created a community of product lovers and supporters who feel connected to the brand and each other.
Turning to some more somber and serious examples of interaction on social, such as a request to use Yorkshire Tea branding for a funeral wreath, or when speaking about one of the inventors of Yorkshire Tea, Dwight notes that “it’s important to show that you can…engage with people about things that…don’t have to be silly”. By interacting “with authenticity, with genuine warmth” and because “it was an important thing to say,” the messages resonated strongly with their audience.
Watch Dom’s full keynote session here to explore these points and more in detail and also discover:
- How Yorkshire Tea has been leveraging advancing tech
- Further examples of interactions on social - both from a more positive and negative and from customers and celebrities
- The opportunity for Northern brands to lean on humanness to stand out
