Peet’s is quite an old American coffee roaster and retailer that’s been operating since 1966. In the 2023 “Coffee for Coffee People” campaign, the brand had a little bit of fun by ribbing the typical Starbucks clientele and their increasingly convoluted drink orders. The campaign includes a series of YouTube skits poking fun at people who don’t seem to even like coffee in the first place — like this girl asking for a “birthday cake” blend.
Why we love it: While Peet’s campaign may seem snobbish to the laypeople, it targets a certain audience, which is, well, the “coffee people” who think they’re better than others just because of their drink choices. For that audience, it works amazing! The campaign does a great job mocking white Americans who butchered the traditional coffee culture with “mango breezes” and mass-market vendors like Starbucks creating the situation in the first place.
But okay, if this one hurt your feelings, here’s your official permission to drink your pumpkin spice latte this fall. Granted by the entire content department of Selzy.
Torque Coffee is an American coffee producer that values farmers’ equity and sustainability in coffee production. Their product lineup includes a mysterious “Once Upon A Time” roast that celebrates the mastery of certain farmers, changes every week, and is very limited.
Why we love it: Once Upon A Time is more than just an exclusivity bait that boosts sales. Firstly, it does a classic small business marketing trick pretty well, which is emphasizing the creator, not the company. Every time the roast is updated, we see its “author” and their picture along with the taste descriptions — and the project is described as “the ode to the wizardry of coffee producers”. Secondly, coffee is notoriously colonial, and by celebrating the producers and their roasting craft, Torque Coffee at least tries to change the narratives around the drink and the industry.
Wait, isn’t Estée Lauder a makeup brand? We were surprised too when we learned about the brand’s promo campaign for a new sunscreen in Shanghai. The cosmetics giant partnered with over 100 coffee places — customers who wore purple received a free special coffee drink from the brand, along with new product samples.
Why we love it: According to the 2023 report by DGTL, 23% of surveyed Canadians found digital environments stressful and untrustworthy — in 2022, it was 21%. So, digital fatigue is real and growing. One way for brands to combat it is to connect with customers in real life, as Estée Lauder did. Also, such campaigns are an amazing source of user-generated content, which is basically free promotion.
STōK is a brand of cold brew coffee, the variation known for its high caffeine content. This year, the company became the stadium sponsor of Wrexham AFC and released a bunch of football-themed ads. The Superbowl commercial with Anthony Hopkins preparing for the team mascot routine is definitely our favorite.
Why we love it: Jumping on the hype bandwagon, be it something on the news or a sports event, is a bit harder than it seems. Using a recent and widely discussed event for campaign inspiration feels like an obvious move — however, you should think first: how is that related to my business? In the case of STōK, making a Superbowl campaign while being a stadium sponsor for a football team is great. The product is integrated pretty well too — especially given the “it’s the cold brew that ignites the fire” line at the end of the commercial. Also, Anthony Hopkins is hilarious in this ad!
If you drink coffee at home, you’ve probably had Lavazza’s ground coffee in your cupboard at least once in your life. But did you know that this Italian coffee giant ran a spectacular Earth Day campaign this year?
Why we love it: It’s easy to make something overly serious when you’re running a socially responsible campaign — and it’s also pretty easy to get over the line with jokes. Lavazza made a lighthearted and funny commercial, partially thanks to the main actor’s perfect comedic timing and delivery, but also highlighted an actual problem. Mentioning the initiatives Lavazza supports is also a smart move that shows: the company makes an Earth Day commercial not just to appeal to certain politically conscious demographics.
Here’s another great example of responsible marketing on our list. This one is from Cafédirect, a fair trade coffee company based in the UK. Their mission is to make sure that coffee producers earn enough to live by growing and roasting coffee. Each year, they release progress reports — here’s what the latest one looks like:
Why we love it: Consistent yearly reports from businesses trying to improve upon a social issue is already a great idea. But not turning such reports into lead magnets and just putting them out for public access? Magnificent. Uploading them to the online book reading platform that is easy to use and requires no registration? Gorgeous. This is how a decent company holds itself accountable and earns trust.
Promoting a song called “Espresso” by partnering with a coffee joint would be a no-brainer solution — and it actually happened! This year, Sabrina Carpenter collaborated with Blank Street Coffee in London by organizing a meetup where she worked as a barista, serving drinks to her fans and posing for pictures between the orders. However, the campaign was criticized for the singer cosplaying the working class, which is a valid reason for the backlash. The photo shoot is great though.
Why we love it: While the implementation lowkey deserved the backlash, the concept behind the campaign was quite interesting. Now, imagine if it were Blank Street promoting themselves instead of the singer promoting her song — the same situation would be way less cringe since it wouldn’t be so focused on Sabrina’s persona.
Fun fact: Sabrina Carpenter had another partnership with a coffee place — Alfred Coffee offers a special “Me Espresso” drink, which is a pretty basic vanilla latte but you can’t go wrong with the classics, right?
Fellow is a brand of coffee brewing gear that ensures the coffee shop quality in the comfort of your home. One of their recent emails promoting a new coffee maker celebrates both the product release and the brand’s 11th anniversary.
Why we love it: It’s easy to fumble a company anniversary email — such campaigns can often be quite boring and bring no value to the customer. Fellow did an amazing job in this rather complex “email genre”. The witty “11 years in the game” tagline, along with the board game path layout showcasing the products, are both entertaining and selling. Apart from showcasing the achievements and the product assortment, Fellow also brought something valuable for the customers, which is a giveaway of their recently released coffee maker. All these factors make this brand anniversary email a gold standard in the campaign format!
We’re not writing yet another listicle with ad campaigns we love just for the sake of it — we want you to learn from the best! And these campaigns have a lot to offer. Here’s what you can use to promote your business, coffee or not:
Whether you wrote a cool blog article, posted an awesome YouTube video, or crafted a meme for your company’s Facebook page, it will mean nothing if most of your customers don’t see it. Social media algorithms work against you, paid ads are not as efficient as you’d love to… There’s a better alternative.
Email newsletters are an awesome way to distribute your content and make sure as many people as possible appreciate your efforts. This channel is:
Only dipping your toes in the sea of emails? Selzy is a great way to go — we are a beginner-friendly ESP that will allow you to send your first newsletter in just 15 minutes. Start for free and see for yourself.
