Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Images and Design

10. When Is a Cup of Tea More Than Just Another Cup? Stunning Photography on a Website Differentiates a Product

With luxurious photography as a backdrop, Two Leaves and a Bud Tea Company created a website design that conveys freshness, commitment to quality, and the uniqueness of the company's brand at a glance. They've managed to capture a sense of oneness with nature and convey social responsibility toward the environment and the small farmers who pick the tea. When you're selling a commodity, product differentiation is crucial. Yet, how do you differentiate something as timeless and ubiquitous as tea—something that can be bought in any grocery store and all over the Web?

How do you not only justify consumers paying a higher price for your product but develop brand loyalty that causes them to remember and seek out your product over the many other options out there?

Why It Works

The Two Leaves and a Bud Tea Company's website redesign uses a full background image that changes with each visit to the site. The images are the company's own photography and show the tea growing in lush green fields, the small farmers who tend the fields and pick the tea, tea in bowls, and other evocative images. Phil Edelstein, marketing director, says visitors to the website should experience, “a fresh journey each and every time.”

“Most ecommerce experiences are so focused on selling efficiently and ...