La Colombe Coffee organizes blind tasting for cold brew category
April 19 - 2023
Coffee Geography Magazine
La Colombe Coffee Roasters brought together the most diehard cold coffee drinkers from across the U.S. and switched out their drink in a blind tasting to introduce them to the "Holy Grail of Cold Brew." La Colombe owns and operates 32 cafés across Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Austin, and Washington, D.C.. Its Coffee are well received by hotels, restaurants and retailers worldwide.
Over 300 people auditioned under the guise of a documentary about diehard coffee fans. Fans ranged from Starbucks obsessed, to Dunkin diehards, to indie cold brew enthusiasts. Each superfan tasted "their favorite coffee drink" and shared how much they loved it, only for the brand to reveal that they were actually drinking La Colombe. The positive reactions ranged from shocked, to committing to leave their favorite coffee company behind. The newly converted fans spoke to taste, less sugar, and real ingredients as reasons they were converting.
"Through the video we set out to prove that great tasting coffee can overcome even the strongest obstacles, like loyalties and biases," said Kathryn O'Connor, Chief Marketing Officer of La Colombe.
The videos are part of La Colombe's second national advertising campaign, which kicks off on National Cold Brew Day, April 20. The campaign tagline "A Taste Above All'' speaks to La Colombe's high-quality tasting cold brew as "The Holy Grail of Cold Brew." La Colombe's cafe-perfected cold brew is known for its bold, smooth flavor, and real ingredients.
The media will target coffee lovers nationwide and will run until Labor Day. The multifaceted, integrated media strategy will include video (streaming + mobile), social, display, search, affiliate, and OOH, as well as experiential and influencer marketing.
To celebrate the campaign and holiday, the brand will be giving 30% off their iconic ready-to-drink beverages online from April 19 - 21, and will be offering their first-ever buy-one-get-one free promotion on on-tap cold brew and Draft Lattes in cafes-only on April 20. On April 25, Cold Brew lovers can also enter to win a one-of-a-kind piece of art from world-renowned artist Stephen "Espo" Powers and free cold brew coffee for an entire year.
"This campaign is part of our overall mission to make people happy with coffee and, raising the standards for outstanding quality coffee," added O'Connor.
"The creative brief was all about great taste. So when you strip all the logos, fancy type treatments and brand associations away, no other coffee company stands a chance," said Roy Torres, VP of Creative at La Colombe who leads their in-house creative department.
This campaign comes during a time of continued successful growth for La Colombe and at the beginning of cold brew season. The total ready-to-drink coffee category is over $4.8 billion in annual sales and growing. La Colombe is driving category growth with a 17% year over year vs. the ready to drink category which is growing at just 7%.
In 2009, they perfected the recipe for its legendary Brazilian cold brew, pioneering the Fourth Wave of coffee: Cold Brew. Today La Colombe is the largest independently owned 4th wave coffee company and is the only vertically integrated ready-to-drink coffee company.