Peet’s Coffee & Tea Looks To Give Local Success A National Flavor

In its first campaign for Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Citron Haligman Bedecarrƒ is banking on the notion that highbrow magazines are the best place to reach coffee fanatics. The San Francisco agency is trying to give the gourmet coffee company’s mail order business a boost with an illustrated ad in The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly and Wired magazines. The print work, which broke last week, will be reinforced with a pair of radio ads and a direct mail campaign.
Rather than seeking a Starbucks-type mass appeal, Berkeley, Calif.-based Peet’s targets a select segment of coffee drinkers. “Our goal is to make Peet’s the ultimate coffee lover’s coffee, whether customers buy it in the stores or order it by mail,” said agency chairman Tom Bedecarrƒ.
The campaign seeks to open the door to the world of coffee fanatics, Bedecarrƒ added. The magazine ad’s sketches of odd-looking characters and flying cups of java accompany a headline, “Obsessed with coffee? Hey, join the club.”
Peet’s has built a loyal clientele in Northern California, where it operates a chain of coffee bars. With its national mail order business, the company seeks to expand its reputation and create a national brand among the literary and digital set.