The objective was to gain exposure for the Swedish coffee producer Gevalia as a brand and get as many as possible to try the new, improved coffee. Gevalia also wanted its primary target group, which is mainly located in small and medium sized cities, to encounter and interact with the brand via new channels and in a new context, as well as symbolise the changes and reinforce the perception of Gevalia as a modern brand.

We decided to pay tribute to the historical tradition of Swedish coffee culture by letting cities battle for the prestigious award in becoming Sweden’s best fika-city. During five weekends in May-June 2009, two cities challenged each other in gathering as many people as possible to one, united coffee break event in their city centre. Before every battle, selected local opinion leaders were equipped with material to promote the battle via their own channels. Media was informed about the battle and provided with local results from a fika survey. The whole campaign was also available online via live streaming.

Suddenly people wanted to participate in the sampling, which is the complete opposite of traditional methods. The campaign generated a total of 23,851 coffee guests, 142 media clippings with over 70 bloggers, an estimated reach of a third of Sweden’s population. The ambassadors sent over 30 000 invites via Facebook and several hundreds of comments were posted in Facebook groups and blogs. When it comes to being the perfect fika coffee, Gevalia was ranked 33 percent higher among those who had visited the event, compared to the national average. By celebrating the Swedish coffee culture, Gevalia managed to connect with coffee drinkers all over the nation and “Sweden’s largest fika” became the battle that every Swede wanted to win.

Historically, coffee in Sweden has been associated with a typical Swedish phenomenon – fika, which means sitting down and taking a coffee break along with friends. The solution was based on the local patriotism of the residents and the rivalry that exists between certain Swedish towns. The concept activated the target group to let them commit themselves to be the driving force behind the campaign. By organising interactive samplings in the form of large public fika gatherings, which could also be experienced online, Gevalia created environments where the target group could experience Gevalia’s coffee in a new and appealing context.