As one of the first markets in the world to introduce Coke & Coffee, we needed to create excitement around its launch- especially, in the predominantly tea-drinking countries of East Africa.

We wanted to shift the conversation away from tea and towards coffee in the pre-launch phase. The strategy was to get people curious and wondering what a simple coffee bean could offer.

With only Coca-Cola’s dynamic ribbon integrated into the folds of the coffee bean and no other branding, we left a subtle clue for the audience to take up the conversation on what the singular coffee bean was really for.

The only other element we included was a launch date indicating when all would be revealed. This launch campaign was seen in outdoor, print and instore posters in Kenya first. Soon to be released in Uganda and Tanzania.

Coca-Cola is a leading brand in East Africa. It has consistently innovated its product line to work towards its strategy of becoming a total beverage company and innovated its communication by pioneering platforms like Coke Studio Africa. This has ensured that it strongly resonates with its consumers at every stage.

For Coke & Coffee, the challenge was to captivate a new target group – the young office going consumer: the ones who step out for power lunches and grab a bite on the move, creating yet another occasion to enjoy that perfect, chilled Coca-Cola.

Due to Coca-Cola’s popularity, its brand elements are easily identifiable. To pique the audience’s interest in the next Coca-Cola product – Coke & Coffee, we developed an icon that merges Coke’s ‘Dynamic Ribbon’ into a coffee bean as if it were a natural occurrence.

The overall tone of the teaser campaign leaned heavily on the Coffee side with a dark brown background replacing the iconic red to keep the audience guessing. Copy was kept to a minimal- a launch date for the product, leaving the audience to connect the dots. Subtle brand cues were added like the effervescence beneath the copy.

Above all, the design was kept simple, announcing the arrival of Coke & Coffee by merging its two most recognizable icons.

The teaser campaign was displayed on outdoor locations, on posters at coffee houses and at Coca-Cola owned touch points.

We got what we wanted. The teaser phase is still generating enough curiosity amongst our target audience. Most of the reaction is actually coming on the brand that Coca-Cola is doing something with coffee. Even Kenya's biggest Coffee chop chain JAVA HOUSE reacted to the campaign teaser.