NABOB Respect the Bean Analysis Giselle Boada Kathryn Faubert Integrated Brand Communications, BMK 812 February 24, 2015
Since 1896, Nabob has been keeping coffee about coffee. Unfortunately everyone else hasn t. That s why we decided to travel to Colombia. We visited local coffee growers to show them the current state of coffee. To prove that when it comes to coffee we all need to Respect The Bean. (Recognized host in IMC) Situation Analysis The campaign launched across Canada in April, 2014 (Haynes) where Kraft worked with creative agency Ogilvy & Mather, arriving at Respect the Bean. Their idea was a simple solution for building a coffee brand, where the campaign is centred on mocking modern coffee culture, going against coffee pretension, and celebrating the simplicity of a pure cup of coffee, the beans and the farmers who harvest them. The campaign takes aim at what is considered coffee in today s society and reaffirming Nabob as a heritage brand and one that is close to its roots. Problem Statement The coffee industry where demand is high, competition is invariably high too with new players, products and brands constantly entering the industry. For a brewing coffee product like Nabob, its competitors in the retail space have been names like Maxwell House, Folgers, Nescafe. But within recent years, brands that customers have come to know on their daily commute like Starbucks, Tim Horton s, McCafe, are also entering the retail space and the competition is intensifying. (See Appendix) Marketing Objectives Nabob s marketing objective for the campaign is to return to strong growth rates, improve brand image, and grow share of the retail coffee (WARC). The Nabob campaign is a continuation of Kraft s CMO Tony Matta s vision for the company to create magnetic brands (Kotm) and be part of culturally relevant moments; to be iconic and known in the coffee segment as a premium roast and ground coffee brand in Canada. Page 2 of 10
Communication Objectives Nabob provides customers with the idea that a simple cup of great tasting coffee is enough- it s about substance over style- and to look at what coffee is being passed on in today s coffee culture. Nabob assures our customers will enjoy good, authentic, quality in every brewed coffee cup. Target Audience The Nabob customers are coffee drinkers that value substance over style. Nabob is the ideal brand for those who identity with being a coffee purist. Nabob coffee is brewed at home, when customers drink coffee in the morning before starting their day, when they get back home after a long day or any time in between. The campaign targets those customers that are passionate about their coffee being authentic and pure. Some customers agreed with Kraft's point of view; taking a stand against what culture is perceiving how coffee should be where adding more to the cup is better. The whole concept and tagline Respect the Bean emphasizes that less is more and it resonated with many to go against the norm cultural zeitgeist and be rebel-like to think that coffee should just be about coffee. What they Think: Coffee is a part of my everyday routine, where it is not pretentious, but more real and authentic. What they Feel: They enjoy the taste, aroma, and warmth of the coffee being in a space that they are comfortable (home). They appreciate that coffee alone is enough and does not need any added fixture to enhance the flavour. How they Behave: They don t have to stand amongst those that order the customized elaborate coffees to show that they are coffee drinkers, but instead know that valuing the brew of a well picked coffee bean makes all the difference than the image of them walking around with a white coffee cup. Strategic Thinking and Consumer Analysis Tony Matta, Kraft s CMO, wants the company to capitalize on finding the untapped emotional and cultural associations with some of its brands. From his start in June 2012, Matta wanted to start treating some of the brands at Kraft like the icons they could be (Kotm) and the dedication to build the Nabob brand was because of its potential to regain a built-in connection in consumer s minds. Page 3 of 10
Nabob is moving away from a traditional target demographic and instead targeting consumers who believe substance should always triumph style (Haynes). Nabob is following the rising consumer trend toward simplicity, the taste of a preferred dark roast coffee (where many coffee chains have taken note like Tim Horton s Dark Roast coffee launch) and those that are considered coffee lovers to note that coffee should just be about coffee without being pretentious or fake. The campaign hopes to bring coffee drinkers who may be already consuming these coffee concoctions to question if what they are drinking has coffee at all. The campaign also addresses another underlying trend of health consciousness in North America since coffee alone is said to be good for your health (in small reasonable doses no less) without all the added cream, sugar, and syrups that some coffee houses offer. According to a Saeco survey performed in August 2014, 92% of coffee drinkers make their own brew at home on a regular basis (Wright). This is good news for the Nabob brand that may capture these customers, but this change in consumer behavior brings new rivals in an already competitive category of coffee home brews. The price of coffee beans is up 55% on global markets in 2014 and nearly 70% of younger Canadians ages 18 to 34 have mentioned cost savings as the main reason to make their own cup of coffee (Wright). The benefit of choosing a home brewed coffee product is addressing price sensitive consumers who may want to save money than buy a $5.00 coffee on a daily basis. The consumer insight from the campaign is capturing their initial reaction when they see a simple cup of brewed coffee mocking coffee giants like Starbucks (with their iconic white cup) and getting them to think twice of the ratio of coffee to other added fixtures when making a coffee purchase. The campaign does a great job to get the customer to question the coffee culture. Since the mid '90 s, Nabob has seen sales volume and share declines due to a lack of relevance, point of differentiation and increasing competition in the Canadian coffee market. As the coffee category was being revitalized by a vibrant new café culture of higher quality coffee, increased variety and flavours and blends, new coffee customers were also seeking better quality coffee with more variety, energy, and interest. Coffee customers did not perceive Nabob to be premium. The brand had lost that differentiation and consumers perceived Nabob Coffee as dated and my mom s coffee (WARC). Nabob s new positioning in the market is its emphasis of relevancy, quality and heritage in hopes of differentiating itself amongst other brands and consumers perception of the brand. The campaign is created to build the Nabob brand that can have a deep meaning with customers that can pull not just push the product and tap into a cultural point of view. Page 4 of 10
Brand Positioning The campaign does not address more benefits for Nabob coffee, but instead clearly communicates who they are not. Nabob repositions its competition to further their own position in the market through mocking cultural trends in the coffee industry. For Nabob, it s about simple pure coffee. What we are not is about pretentious coffee. (Brown) Communication and Media Strategy All throughout the campaign and on different digital media platforms, the same tagline is communicated throughout each medium, making the message clear, easy to understand and easy to follow (Refer to Appendix). The agency used several digital mediums to communicate the message first such as YouTube, Twitter, and a microsite. YouTube: Colombian Farmers Documentary https://www.youtube.com/respectthebean Micro site: http://www.nabob.ca/en/the-nabob-story/respect-the-bean Twitter: @NabobCoffee #RespectTheBean Creative Discussion The creative agency, Ogilvy & Mather, went to Colombia for a few weeks and immersed themselves with local authentic coffee culture and communicated directly with coffee farmers capturing as much footage for a documentary style campaign. It was a conscious choice where they wanted to get closer to the farmers bringing the authenticity and credibility of the main message. The campaign centers around the importance of the coffee bean and substance over style. Placing the importance of the coffee bean, and its farmers who harvest them has been continued from Nabob s previous campaign that brought to light Nabob s sustainability position. The tone of communication is cheeky, mocking other competitors, and addressing a target audience that is perceived to be coffee lovers. With a young host traveling around the coffee fields, it takes the customers on a journey to where it all starts, going back to the source. Customers can trust that Nabob is a brand who understands the origin of its coffee, its heritage and will never stray from that. The concept is simple and clear, transparent and also maintaining a sense of responsibility. Page 5 of 10
Execution Elements Discussion The campaign launched in April, 2014 and since then has enjoyed strong engagement levels with its consumers (Brown). The initial launch video was featured on YouTube and has almost 900,000 views a farmer spitting out a fancy coffee in disgust, while another farmer says it smells like s***. From there, the agency was able to evolve the campaign mocking other recognizable yearly coffee offerings. For example, one other video shows the now familiar host (young man featured demonstrating the different coffee arrangements to the Colombian coffee farmers) offering a red cup of coffee, with whipped cream and a candy cane given during the holiday season. The farmer is not interested mentioning it s like they re more interested in the decoration than the coffee in the cup (Brown). Another common example is the pumpkin spice latte craze in North America, the same host carries around the farm a pumpkin mentioning that they extract pumpkin to put in the coffee. The campaign started online in order to grab customer s attention with the blunt delivery and mockery. Once the conversation started, it drew attention to more videos on their YouTube channel, comments on Nabob s twitter feed. The campaign will include some online and digital pieces that will feature longer two- and four-minute videos, social media, as well as traditional print, out of home advertising and more TV. Aside from the videos, Nabob s campaign featured out-of-home, social and other indirect digital efforts including its first-ever sponsored stories on Buzzfeed. In August, the article 18 Sugary-Sweet Coffee Trends That Must Be Stopped staying relevant to their audience and in September, 14 Reasons People Who Drink Black Coffee Are Happier tying in their message of respecting the bean (Brown). Controls and Metrics Nabob s Respect the Bean campaign generated 1,700 followers on Twitter because it created conversation and challenged customers views making them question their stance on coffee and if their affiliation with it was pure. The campaign also generated than 870,000 views on YouTube. The campaign made the total Nabob penetration by one point higher than last year, and as a result Nabob have decided to continue the campaign into next year (Haynes). The campaign will also include some seasonal elements and will run for the remainder of the year. This will also mark the brand s advertising return to the Quebec market in May 2014, when it launches a push in that province, where it s been inactive from a marketing sense for the past 10 years (Brown). Expanding the campaign to cover the Quebec market is key because according to the Coffee Association of Canada, coffee drinkers in this province are 71% of daily coffee drinkers (Ng). Page 6 of 10
Budget Estimate Not found. Appendix The current brewed coffee category is highly competitive and it is important for the Nabob brand to be differentiated amongst so many others. In this current retailer, Nabob is positioned as premium because it is beside illy, another premium brand. Coffee companies are offering their instant and ground coffee outside their own brick-andmortar locations. Competitors like Starbucks, Tim Horton s have a shelf space dedicated to some of their popular brews in retail spaces. One of the more recent competitors is McDonald s McCafe, where they have launched with full end-aisle displays at grocery stores. Page 7 of 10
Nabob Respect the Bean Print Ads: Similar creative imagery with different taglines allows the customer to easily recognize the campaign. The concept is communicated clearly at the bottom of both print ads. The idea of simplicity is apparent with the use of a coffee bean as the impactful image and nothing else. Nabob Respect the Bean Microsite: There are other social media platforms that are all tied in with the campaign and are easily accessible for customers to interact and explore. The message strategy is communicated on the main site and extends to Nabob s microsite for the campaign. The videos take the customer on a journey where they can see how the local farmers react to coffee trends in North America. The microsite also has mini documentaries of the lives of some coffee growers keeping it real and authentic. Page 8 of 10
Nabob Respect the Bean YouTube Channel: The YouTube channel is an extension from the microsite and another medium where customers can view all featured commercials and mini documentaries. Nabob Respect the Bean Twitter Profile: Twitter allows customers to engage with the brand and vice versa. With relevant hashtags such as #RespectTheBean, it is easy to follow the conversations relating to the campaign and see the consumer s point of view. Page 9 of 10
Works Cited Haynes, Megan. "Nabob Mocks the Fixings."» Strategy. N.p., 17 Apr. 2014. Web. 07 Feb. 2015. Kotm, Josh. "Krafting Icons."» Strategy. N.p., 16 Dec. 2014. Web. 14 Feb. 2015. Bitti, Mary Teresa. "For Coffee Purveyors, 'fair Trade' Is No Longer a Differentiator." Financial Post. N.p., 4 Aug. 2014. Web. 10 Feb. 2015. Brown, David. "Kraft's Simple Solution for Building a Coffee Brand." Kraft's Simple Solution for Building a Coffee Brand. N.p., 27 Nov. 2014. Web. 13 Feb. 2015. Nabob Coffee Postcards. ARF Ogilvy Awards 2009: 1-6. WARC. Web. 14 Feb. 2015. Wright, Lisa. "McDonald s CEO Buzzing over the Launch of His Home Brew Toronto Star." Thestar.com. N.p., 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. Ng, Lisa. "Coffee Consumption in Canada." Van Houtte. N.p., 18 Apr. 2013. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. Page 10 of 10