Caribou Coffee, a distant No. 2 in the coffee chain category next to Starbucks, is attempting to bolster its appeal as a branded coffee company by playing down the ski lodge imagery and, yes, the caribou, with a sweeping rebranding.
The push, which includes a new logo and print work, comes as the brand attempts to foster a more contemporary, less regional image. With locations in 15 Midwestern and Eastern states, Caribou doesn’t have the national retail footprint of Starbucks and has a fraction of the marketing budget. But it is known for its quality—Consumer Reports ranked it No.1 among java purveyors—and a new management team wants to expand upon that and build a national presence. One way to do that is by rolling out branded ground coffee on other retailers’ shelves. Such sales rose 77 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, per the company. Caribou is now in 7,000 U.S. grocery stores.
The rebranding is being driven by CEO Mike Tattersfield, a former Yum exec who joined Caribou in 2008. Tattersfield brought in a former Yum colleague Alfredo Martel as svp, marketing, 14 months ago. Martel inherited nine marketing communications partners and a “schizophrenic brand image” when it came to things like Caribou’s consumer products packaging, point of purchase and collateral. Martel launched an agency review and selected Minneapolis shop Colle+McVoy, creator of the new logo, color palette and advertising. Caribou, which aired its first-ever TV ads last fall, will have more on-air spots, launch its largest out-of-home pitch to date and debut a new Web site.
“We wanted to re-energize Caribou’s existing values and strategic pillars in a more contemporary articulation,” said Martel. “What galvanizes the brand is ‘a higher state of bean.’ It’s about an elevation of spirit and non-negotiable quality. We’ve always had a quirky tone.”
In reworking the leaping caribou logo, Colle+McVoy softened its northwoods look, adding more fluid graphics and stylizing the deer’s legs to look like a coffee bean. The team considered more than 500 concepts for a new tag but wound up retaining its existing one: “Life is short. Stay awake for it.” New emphasis was given through “Bou-isms” like “max out your passport” and “be the first to apologize.”
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