Arctic Iced Coffee is the UK’s number 1 independent iced coffee brand. Available in all major retailers, with a loyal consumer base, in a category in growth. Unfortunately, it’s a category unsurprisingly dominated by major national and international players including Costa and Starbucks, who have huge advertising spends and the consumer recall and recognition that comes with global fame.
Halo were appointed to take Arctic Iced Coffee, Crediton Dairy’s flagship brand, to the next level. Helping them grow distribution, share of voice and market share.
Strategy first
Researching the category behaviours and culture, and with further audience research we realised that the brands real evangelists were aged 15-20. They weren’t necessarily coffee drinkers at all, choosing iced coffee for the sweetness and the energy boost of the drink. They’re not interested in roasts and blends, origins and tasting notes. They’re not coffee geeks, they’re iced coffee lovers.
So, we’re not selling coffee at all. We’re something else. Something new.
The new ‘Taste of Independence’ proposition references both the brand itself, and speaks to our young audience, making their own choices and exploring the world on their own terms, finding their own voice as they mature.
Back to black
The campaign does the simple things really well. We went back to black, reflecting the distinctive pack design and giving the product hero status in all creative. Headlines were created to look like snow and ice, reinforcing the product itself, with copy that celebrated ice and coolness in a direct, bold – and sometimes humorous way.
With a combination of striking OOH, press and digital, with strong use of TV VOD and Google Ad Network, the national above the line punches well above its weight, creatively outplaying the big name competition.
With a summer Iced Bar Roadshow and festival experiences to get product directly into people’s hands, the comms mix gives us a huge opportunity to reach our audience in ever more compelling and valuable ways.
Take on the enemy
The Arctic attitude is fun and energetic with a healthy dose of ‘edge’. To play up to their independent and spirited personality we developed a series of ‘attack ad’ style posters for alternative / non-traditional sites in cities across the UK. The ads are combative, taking the big name, multi-national competition to task with a striped back, simple aesthetic, that lets the copy do all the talking.
Where next?
Fresh out of the studio, we can’t wait to build on the brand platform and campaign in the months and years to come. This is only the beginning.
