It’s a classic case of the underdog. America’s number two retail coffee chain pitted against number one, with the odds stacked against it. That’s just how Minnesota-based Caribou Coffee was feeling as it began planning for 2009. Its Seattle-based competition is more than fifty times its size, and arguably one of the most recognizable brands in America. In late fall 2009 Caribou Coffee announced that it was reformulating all of its chocolate beverages. The new beverage suite consists of real gourmet chocolate pieces from famed Guittard Chocolate Co. melted into the beverages. While all the major coffeehouse chains use syrups or processed powders to flavour their drinks, Caribou Coffee was the first retailer of its kind to switch to real, all-natural chocolate. We were charged with bringing this new innovation to consumers and media to create buzz and drive sales. Strategic media relations outreach leveraged eye-catching assets such as beautiful food photography, exclusive b-roll footage and an edible press release made of gourmet chocolate to catch media’s attention. Coverage resulted in 21 million media impressions, more than double the goal, and a 12 percent increase in sales in one week.

The team implemented the programme to reach target media and consumers and coordinated all components to create the most buzz during the first week of launch in mid-November.

Key tactics included: - Custom media kits, including the first-ever chocolate press release, made with premium Guittard chocolate and distributed to print and broadcast outlets in key Caribou markets.

- B-roll package showing chocolate drinks being handcrafted in-store and sound bites from the Caribou Coffee product development manager.

- Electronic media kits to provide editors with information and photography with one simple click.

- Product samples to influential food bloggers.

- Proactive messaging to Caribou’s social network fan base through Twitter and Facebook.

All objectives were exceeded.

- Sales for chocolate drinks increased 12 percent in the first week of launch compared to the same time period in 2008.

- Mocha sales saw particular growth, moving from 8,000 units sold on a typical Monday to 29,000 sold on the first day of launch.

- Earned media placements contained key product information including flavours and price and drove readers/listeners to cariboucoffee.com.

- Nearly 21 million total media impressions were achieved, more than 200 percent of the goal.

- Newspaper coverage in all 13 of Caribou’s key markets, including the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Des Moines Register, Cincinnati Enquirer and Cleveland Plain Dealer.

- Coverage in key trade media included articles in Nation’s Restaurant News, Fast Casual and Advertising Age.