Harvard Tea: Brand Micro-culture...or Synchronisity?

I made a mistake today when I was on Harvard's campus. While at the university's bookstore, I saw a POS display promoting "Well Red" tea from Republic of Tea. Guessing the tea company was nodding to the Harvard Crimson, I thought "shit, that's smart...make a tea blend specifically for a stressed-out audience and tap into their demonstrated enthusiasm. Way to integrate yourselves and way to think of a small audience with potential huge payoff..." But I was wrong...the "red" in "Well Red" is a line of tea using the red tea roobios as its main ingredient.

Despite the mistake, the idea is born from brand association/sponsorship that has been around for ages from toys in Happy Meals to product placement (Audi anyone?)...brands have always been looking for the right opportunity to integrate themselves into their audiences' lives.

It's almost cliche to say it, but with the increased clutter/competition brands face in the market and an audience that is ever distracted, integration is more important than ever. However, in my truly humble "bloggy" quick opinion, I'd argue there's potential for brands to do a better job with their partnerships.

What struck me about my make believe Republic of Tea/Harvard partnership was that a) tea is a perfect product for stressed out college students b) it was an inventive use of red tea and c) it was an example of brand micro-culture, which, in essence is why we love the web. It was the long tail theory in practice in the corporeal world - as if someone was saying "you like tea, you like Harvard, there's a product for you." It's that type of intimate, close to personalized connection, that once made relationships between brands and consumers so great (way back before mass production) and the web has made so great again. Just sayin'....

Have an example? Share it.