La Colombe Coffee Roasters® kicks off first-ever national advertising campaign
August 1 - 2022
Coffee Geography Magazine
La Colombe Coffee Roasters, a premium, specialty coffee roaster with 32 cafes nationwide and the iconic Latte on-the-go beverages, unveils its integrated summer marketing campaign, For the Love of Real, to celebrate increased national distribution of its beloved ready-to-drink, Cold Brew products and continued commitment to real taste, real ingredients, and real impact that La Colombe delivers.The integrated summer campaign features a cast of six and a voice-over sourced from the brand's employee network, which underpins the platform of realness and authenticism.
La Colombe's real taste is helping them to outpace category growth and serve as sweet relief from the traditional ready to drink brands' overly sugared offerings. Their first national ad campaign highlights the 60% less sugar that La Colombe lattes have vs. the leading flavored coffee drink, one of the key insights that help drive the 'real' tone of the creative campaign.
The media will target the coffee curious nationwide, working to build brand and product awareness through video (streaming + mobile), social, display, search, affiliate, OOH and audio, as well as experiential, field, and influencer marketing.
La Colombe worked with New York City-based media agency, big, on integrated strategy and cross channel media activation and award-winning branding and advertising agency, Circus Maximus, on the creative. They are also working on an event and experience plan to roll out in late August.
Kathryn O'Connor, SVP of Brand, Marketing, and eComm for La Colombe
"I am so excited to launch the first national brand campaign this summer. "For the Love of Real" reflects our brand from many angles - from the heritage of our cafes to the craft of our cold brews," said Kathryn O'Connor, SVP of Brand, Marketing, and eComm for La Colombe. "We pride ourselves on leaning into the craft of making coffee and doing everything from sourcing to roasting to cold brewing. Having all of our folks featured in the spot and shooting it at our flagship cafe illustrates what matters most to us perfectly."
The commercial highlights the process of making coffee, from bean to cup, and showcases some of La Colombe's beloved products like its roasted blends and iconic canned lattes. The talent and voice-over were done by La Colombe employees - from baristas to managers to marketing team members - and offer a unique aspect to the realness of the spots.
The tagline, For the Love of Real, speaks to the real ingredients used to make their coffee, real taste with less sugar, real roots founded in Philadelphia, and real impact within their communities.
The For the Love of Real coffee tour will surprise and delight people in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Dallas with local collaborations, flavors and merch drops in August and September.
This campaign comes during a time of continued successful growth for La Colombe and at the height of cold brew season. The total ready-to-drink coffee category is over $5.1 billion in annual sales and growing.
La Colombe is driving category growth with a 15% year over year vs. the ready to drink category which is growing at just 7%.
This campaign is positioned to continue the trajectory of La Colombe's super premium ready to drink coffee products, which are the number one ready to drink coffee brand at Whole Foods and number two brand at Target and a top 5 brand in Food, Drug, and Mulo channels.