Challenges
How to maximise budget efficiency:
Costa Coffee’s 2023 ‘Made a Little Better’ campaign, activated by leading integrated media agency EssenceMediacom, was part of a brand refresh following the company’s acquisition by The Coca Cola Company in 2019.
The summer campaign revolved around the insight that little things make summer a better with Costa highlighting the joy of things such as logging off from work a little early or enjoying a coffee in the sun.
Costa faced fierce competition from other brands such as McDonald’s and Starbucks and was losing market share to independent coffee shops, especially in the under 55 age group. There was a clear need to boost visibility of the Costa brand and drive store footfall.
Solution
EssenceMediacom devised an omnichannel campaign to promote Costa’s over-ice drinks throughout the summer of 2023. The campaign ran across out-of-home (OOH), radio, social media, influencers, and experiential activations.
Within the OOH element of the campaign, programmatic played a pivotal role in driving product association via aligning messaging with relevant summer moments. The programmatic team at EssenceMediacom used data and insights to define a more bespoke pDOOH Costa audience compared to the traditional campaign.
The campaign targeted 18-34-year-old coffee lovers and foodies, who enjoy socialising with friends and are active social media users. An additional layer data based on proximity to Costa stores, competitors’ stores, and Costa Express stores serving iced drinks was used alongside weather triggers to maximise budget efficiency.
Results
The campaign exceeded delivery goals achieving 37.8m impacts over 18 weeks demonstrating efficient budget allocation and contextual relevance. Post-campaign measurement showed that the always-on strategy resulted in a high level of presence for Costa in the right places at the right times, in optimal weather conditions.
Clever activation using proximity and weather triggers extended the budget enabling Costa to benefit from the largest share of voice in their competitive set (37%) throughout the summer months.
Brand measurement results and Google Trends data showed increases in awareness and consideration and the over-ice products featured in the campaign showed significant year on year sales growth.