Table of Contents

Creative Brief…………………………………………………..…..4-10 Print ads………………...... 12-13 TV storyboard………………………………………………...... 15-19 Out of home ad…………………………………………………...... 21

Special event Promotional Materials……………………………………...... 23-25 Business letter………………………………………………………..26

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Creative Brief: Caribou

Brand Research Review:

Caribou Coffee is a brand of coffee and that has coffee shops expanding from and stretching across the globe. They are seen as a cozy, rustic coffee place. Caribou Coffee has unique coffee flavors, freshness in every sip, and is always gathering new and interesting coffee flavors from all over the world. They strive to create a quality, innovative, and connecting experience with their customers.

However there is not enough brand awareness, and the target audience is too small, and there are rumors that Caribou Coffee is being considered for purchase by the company Joh. A Benckiser. The problem is that there have been rumors about a buyout. CC needs to avoid a buyout and save the brand. CC also needs to create more brand awareness but all while keeping them the underdog.

Caribou Coffee is currently targeting a niche market and is not as well-known of a brand as its competitors, such as . Currently, Caribou Coffee is an international brand, but as previously mentioned, does not have as much brand awareness from various audiences beyond its narrow target market as its competitors. They are involved on social media with Twitter, and Facebook, but not Instagram.

When you search CC on Google, not a lot of search engines come up. But when you go to their Twitter account it shows that they have over 60,000 followers. This seems like a lot for such a not-well known company. But when you compare it to Starbucks 6 million…it’s almost questionable.

This is where the competitors come in to play. CC isn’t deeply concerned with the competitors because they’re not looking to compete. They want to be the underdogs so that they can have a more personal relationship with their consumers. Competitors could include any local coffee shops, Starbucks, Biggby, Duncan Doughnuts, Big Apple Bagle, & even home brewed coffee. While there are many advertisements and products that are well known with the competitors, CC wants to stay away from that, & be more personal which is what we’ll continue to go for in our campaign.

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The Campaign:

Our campaign starts will start with Caribou Coffee sharing their own background story of Inspiration. The couple who founded Caribou Coffee was hiking in when they saw a Caribou and got inspired. Caribou Coffee will share this story for the first three months of the campaign using #OurStory for social media. For the next four months it will be all about the consumer and getting them to share their own story using #ShareYourStory. A promotion will occur to encourage people to share their story through the website or via email.

Ethical Issues:

Stories will be featured in advertisements, and products used in the CC shop. There are Ethical Issues that could occur with the act of people sharing their stories. When CC posts certain stories, it could appear that they are favoring a certain group of people as opposed to others. There is a natural audience that is loyal to CC and they tend to be more adventurous, active, and enjoy the outdoors. Some audiences may not be happy that that. They could question CC and wonder why their stories aren’t getting chosen to be featured. Another potential ethical issue that could occur would include issues among people who share their stories. Perhaps someone has a story that includes another person and they publish it without getting consent from the other person. The other person may get upset with their name or story being share without their consent.

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Consumer Analysis:

When we ask strangers, friends, and family about Caribou Coffee, many think it sounds familiar but they usually have no idea what CC is all about. They haven’t had a lot of experiences with CC. And they haven’t thought to seek out new coffee places because they are pleased with the situation they have. Some people are perfectly content to pick up their Starbucks coffee on their way to work in the morning. Others brew their own and walk out the door with it.

Many people don’t care what the coffee shop looks like, or how personal it is as long as it has good quality coffee that they want and need. When they find a coffee shop or brand that does the trick, the usually stick with it. Currently CC can’t compete with this, but they don’t necessarily want to. CC already knows they provide good quality coffee, so they care about the extras that make the coffee experiences more personal, and enjoyable. CC is more attractive to people who live in more urban areas because CC offers the ski lodge, rustic coffee shop feel that they don’t get when their riding the and walking through a concrete jungle.

Target Audience:

Our target audience is fairly broad. Before the campaign it seems that CC targets a younger more adventurous audience around the ages of 18-27. By default this may continue but we’re hoping to also engage an audience from ages 18-45. This includes parents, adults, and college students. We could choose a very specific audience with a certain age, lifestyle, job, work schedule, etc. However we feel that the campaign wouldn’t be as affective if we chose such a specific audience. By default this is CC’s main audience.

Objectives:

1. Increase awareness about brand, promise, and story within 8 months.

2. Increase social media use and customer interaction in 8 months.

3. Prevent the brand from being bought out.

4. Raise awareness of “Our Story” within the first 4 months.

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5. Remain the underdogs.

6. Promote the Alaskan Cruise from Royal Caribbean.

Product Analysis:

We want to make it relatable to the customers. Sharing our story will make it personal & let people know who we are. Hopefully that will encourage people to share their story with us. Ex: “We shared our story, you share yours.” #ShareYourStory We will make sure that these objectives are followed through among all Caribou Coffee shops so that any customer can walk into any CC shop and feel like they’re a regular. Like down the street, or in another state.

New Brand Statement –The Big Idea:

While Caribou Coffee is loved by its small niche market, it’s not as well-known as it could be. Caribou Coffee wants to avoid a buyout and believes that it will be beneficial to engage their loyal audience even more. We will also keep its rustic coffee feel. They have a unique story, and they should promote that story even more. The campaign will launch by sharing Caribou Coffee’s story through ads and promotions. This will allow the audience to feel more connected to CC and have a greater appreciation for the background story. After a few months, CC will promote other peoples stories through ads and other promotions.

The logo for the campaign will be “Share Your Story, & We’ll Serve It To The World”. The stories will then be published and used in ads, social media, and merchandise in the CC shop. This will engage the audience even more and make it feel personal because they will see their stories or other people’s stories and have a deeper connection with CC.

The connection will go beyond the love of the coffee. It will allow people to go to any CC in any location and feel at home. We wanted to engage the audience even more. Their stories will be stories of inspiration or perhaps personal stories. We acknowledge that many of audiences so far have stories of adventure and activities, but we will be open to all stories. CC’s story is about how they got inspired, for others that may be different – that’s what makes all the stories unique.

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Tone Statement:

The tone of the message is personal. Social media will use certain hashtags that will be relevant to the timeline of the campaign with hashtags like: #OurStory #ShareYourStory etc. CC has its slogan for the company which we will continue to use, however it will be separate from the campaign. This slogan is, “Life is short, stay awake for it,”.

When you walk into a CC shop, you feel at home. It’s cozy, has inviting couches, smiling people, hipsters, stone fireplaces, and a rustic charm. To add to this, our words will make it feel more personal because we’re telling stories. Everyone has a story and everyone appreciates good stories. This will reinforce the “at home” feel.

The Slogan:

Brand slogan- “Life is short. Stay awake for it.”

Campaign slogan- “Share your story.”

Tactics:

1. Use social media strategically to promote CC’s story, and then everyone else’s story using #OurStory and #ShareYourStory.

2. Promote The Alaskan Cruise with social media, ads, and the website.

3. Promote #ShareYourStory with social media, ads and the website.

4. Publish people’s stories through the website, social media, ads, and merchandise in the stores.

5. Use cups & napkins in the store to promote #ShareYourStory

Timeline & Rationale:

For the first two months, CC will advertise and focus all of their tactics on promoting their story. In the middle of the two months, the Alaskan Cruise will be promoted within CC’s story. Then overlapping, three months will begin focusing the campaign on getting

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other peoples stories. After this, the next four months will be geared towards showing everyone’s stories. People’s stories will then be featured in advertisements, the website, social media, etc.

Support Statement:

We really were eager to do this campaign because we liked that Caribou Coffee felt unique to its competitors. Unlike Starbucks, and Biggby, they are rustic, and feel like a ski lodge coffee shop. Another unique aspect about them is the fact that they’re content to be the underdogs. We wanted to enhance all the things that made Caribou Coffee unique, all while avoiding a buyout. We made up the rumor of the buyout when in reality there recently was a buyout with Caribou Coffee. We created a campaign that would revive Caribou Coffee, enhance all the elements about it that people love and potentially gain new audiences. To connect to people more, we decided to share our story.

Caribou Coffee begins with a unique story of how the founders got inspired. We wanted that to be more well-known. To get our story out there we used advertisements, and social media to be consistent in promoting #OurStory which goes back to the vacation the founders had in Alaska. We then wanted to connect people more to us by partnering with Royal Caribbean to give away tickets for cruises to Alaska. In return, the Royal Caribbean will serve our coffee on their ship. This allows the audience to see how important our story is to us, and shows that we care so much that we want to share our experience with others. After a few months, we turned it around on the audience encouraging them to share their story. The slogan of the campaign is, “Tell us your story, & we’ll serve it to the world”. We will then disperse the stories through ads, social media, and on our website.

Tactics/Strategies:

1. Alaskan Cruise Line / Promo:

- CC provide coffee for the cruise ships. Cruise Line & gives CC free cruises.

-Every time you buy a coffee drink from CC, your name gets put into a raffle to win a spot on the Alaskan Cruise line.

2. Use stories as Ads:

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- CC share their story for the first 6 months. ( or any other timeline). Use social media, the CC Website, ads, and packaging in the coffee shop to show the story.

- Encourage everyone else to #ShareYourStory. Use social media, the CC website, ads, and packaging in the coffee shop to show others stories.

Example:

Coffee Cups ______’s Story… printed on the coffee cup then include blank lines for them to fill it in. Include #ShareYourStory at the bottom of the cup & a link for them to take pictures and post up of their cups on Instagram, FB, or Twitter. & include a link where they could go online and submit their story on the CC website.

AD Example:

Bilboard idea: Photo of mountains with a person rock climbing. Mountains stick up outside of the BB. #ShareYourStory

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TV Storyboard

Shot 1:

The commercial opens with Caribou Coffee’s logo sweeping in from the left into the screen. Simultaneously, inspirational music fades in as the voice-over says, “One story inspired Caribou Coffee. Our story. Now it’s your turn to tell us yours.”

Right after the word “yours” from the previous copy, a spokes-consumer’s audio fades in and the screen transitions to the next scene.

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Shot 2:

The second shot starts with a spokes-consumer, standing outside a Caribou Coffee shop, a young early 20’s woman talking about her story of hiking in the mountains in . She talks about some key points in her story, like when she spotted an interesting animal.

To transition, her audio fades under and the music fades in, but as the next spokes- consumer’s audio fades in, the music fades down again and the screen transitions to the next scene.

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Shot 3:

The third shot starts with another spokes-consumer, standing inside a Caribou Coffee shop holding a coffee cup, a mid to late 20’s man talking about his story of kayaking down a river with friends. He talks about the key points of his story as well, such as when his kayak tipped over.

To transition, his audio fades under and the music fades and additional spokes- consumers’ audio fades in and mixes with others and the screen quickly transitions to the next scene.

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Shot 4:

The fourth shot is when the additional spokes-consumers’ audio is mixing together as video clips and photos are advancing into the screen and fading away as others fade in of some of the other spokes-consumers who had been interviewed. As the voice-over says, “We have experienced our story. Now is the time for us to experience yours,” the collaboration of photos and video clips start to form a minor vortex swirl (like coffee/liquid swirling).

As this voice-over is going, the music fades in and the spokes-consumers’ audio mix fades under and the minor vortex swirl of photos and video clips swirls and energetically pours into a Caribou Coffee cup once the scene of this cup appears on a table in a Caribou Coffee shop, which is the next scene.

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Shot 5:

The vortex swirl of video clips and photos swirl and pour into a Caribou Coffee cup, which is shown on a table in a Caribou Coffee shop. As the swirl pours in the cup, the music fades under and the voice over says: “Tell us your story. We’ll serve it to the world.” And the music fades back in and out.

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Out of home ad:

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Alaskan Cruise promotion:

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Cups and napkins:

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Share your story napkins:

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Grand Valley State University 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401-9403

Date: April 16, 2014 To: Professor Spring From: Kylie Oakes, Morgan Grainer, Sydney Knapp Subject: Business Letter

This business letter will provide relevant information about how we prepared our campaign, how we planned, & communicated through the campaign, and how we collaborated our work together in the end.

In the beginning components of our campaign, it took us a while to choose what we wanted to do. We came up with three ideas, decided to do research on each & then came together to make a decision in class. The decision to do a campaign for Caribou Coffee was unanimous. We all were drawn to its rustic and unique feel.

We began planning who was gifted in which areas. We didn’t know at first what we wanted the exact campaign to be but we had ideas of what we would each be good at doing. Morgan & Sydney were gifted with the design aspects of the campaign where Kylie was content to do a large amount of writing.

Once we came up with the campaign we were able to do tasks quickly. We were able to accomplish a lot of the planning with time in class. This helped us give ourselves “homework” so that we were prepared for the next time we met.

Most of our communication in the beginning was through text. Towards the end we did a lot of emailing so that we could send each other what we had so far. Kylie would send everyone updates on the paper, & Sydney & Morgan would send pieces of ads and photos.

Overall we worked well together because we had previously known each other. This helped us with communicating and being able to share ideas comfortably. We all were pretty low maintenance in our personalities, so if one of us made a decision, we were all easy going with it. However we each were able to say at times that we didn’t like something.

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