Group Project : 4 Weeks : Presented september 2019
Brand Positioning, Brand Audit, COmpetitive Analysis, Product Innovation
“In a saturated category where premium coffee brands are celebrated, how do we resurrect Maxwell House as the initial founder of coffee culture?”
THEN
A champion of the working class.
It is said that Maxwell House invented the idea of the coffee break to help sell coffee during the industrial revolution. Coffee was expensive and they drove down the cost so it was accessible to everyday people. The idea of a break (a new concept thanks to MH) was used in negotiations with labor unions fighting for minimum wage + benefits.
NOW
Outta Sight
Maxwell House is perceived as a bargain brand coffee. You usually find it in bulk, often at the bottom of the aisle in the grocery store. As one interviewee stated, “That’s the coffee my grandmother drinks.”
In 2019, Maxwell House has tripled their ad budget to appeal to younger coffee drinkers.
Click below for a deeper look:
Problem
Curated Coffee
How did we get from ‘cuppa joe’ to frappuccino?
Younger audiences aren’t drinking as much coffee as their parents or grandparents. Most coffee is bought at a coffee shop out of the home. One average, 1 in 3 millennials drinks coffee at home and if they do drink at home, it’s 1 cup every 2 weeks.
Our “Aha!” moment
“Coffee Culture Has Been Highjacked”
Opportunity
The New Working Class
‘Blue collar work’ has shifted dramatically in the last 100yrs. This new working class is more multi-faceted in respect to race and gender as well as the work. Instead of industrialized labor blue collar work lends itself to more service-oriented jobs. We are in a unique place today where workers are fighting for minimum wage and rights. MH can be a voice again in this sphere.
STRATEGY
Ground Coffee For Grounded People
Interviews
We talked to people in this new working class and asked them where coffee fits in while working a shift.
Morgan, ER Nurse
“I often don’t get a chance to drink my whole cup of coffee at work. It often sits in the break room and I don’t touch it again for hours and by then it’s cold.”
Ronald, Police Chief
“I often don’t drink coffee until I get home from the night shift, so I can see my family when they wake up.”
Matt, Construction Superintendant
“My job has me on my feet all day long making sure people are staying safe and doing the job correctly. I don’t really have time to have a cup of coffee in my hand. I like cold brew because the caffeine is stronger and keeps me going. I can also leave it around and at worst it’s room temperature when I come back to it.”
Brett, Firefighter
“I’m the youngest in the firehouse and my job is to make the coffee in the morning. When we’re here waiting for calls the kitchen is the place to hang out.”
👇
Interview Takeaways:
Our audience doesn’t have time to sit with a hot cup of coffee, it’s more ‘touch & go.’ Typically, they leave a cup out and return to it hours later and it’s at less-than-desirable room temperature.
Target
Manifesto
We didn’t want to play to tired stereotypes of blue collar work. We wanted to show the multifaceted face of the 21st century working class person and create a tone/voice that symbolized our targets hearts, their character and bring that to life.
Copy
“You’re the one who’s up before everyone else preparing the world for its day. You’re the one who’s up later finishing what the others may have started. You always bring things full circle. You notice the details that will make the lives of others a little bit lighter. It’s your actions that set you apart, but it’s your heart that keeps you going. A fierce tenderness drives you. It comes from deep within. These roots may not be visible, but they’re strength is undeniable. It’s your unwavering stature that keeps everyone united. Like an anthem, it keeps you going. But you know that the only way to keep others going, is to be well rooted yourself. Maxwell House. Ground Coffee for Grounded People.”
Packaging Redesign
We wanted brighter packaging to make Maxwell House stand out on the shelves but we kept the signature blue Maxwell House logo to not alienate current customers. This can be both appealing to our current customer and a younger audience.
Product Innovation
Cold brew is growing exponentially, with a CAGR of 27%, far beyond traditional ground coffee. To play in this market and offer products based off of our interviewee’s needs, we wanted to create a product specifically for cold brew. This gives us extra advantage as we’ll also be in the freezer aisle of the grocery store, giving the consumer an extra chance to see us somewhere else than the overcrowded coffee aisle.
