The following article is a case study for the Keurig Iced Coffee Innovation Launch, a campaign developed by Keurig Dr Pepper and Mars UnitedSM Commerce that earned a 2024 OmniShopper Award for Best Integrated Path to Purchase Activation from the Path to Purchase Institute.
Objectives
Cold is the fastest-growing segment within the coffee category. Keurig needed to capitalize on this growth by effectively introducing new iced innovation to a young audience. The specific goals were:
- Grow penetration among “Genzennials” by introducing K-Iced brewers and Iced K-Cup pods.
- Position Keurig as the high-quality, affordable, and simple solution for at-home iced coffee, encouraging shoppers to ditch the drive-thru.
- Drive disruption and visibility of these new innovations through digital and in-store merchandising.
Target Audience
The primary target was 18- to 34-year-old Gen Zers and Millennials — “Genzennials.” This target was relatively new to Keurig, whose average user skews older.
These consumers over-index for living in urban areas and are willing to pay more for high-quality brewers. They’re also seeking balance as they start new careers, and they’re tech-savvy about things that can enrich their lives beyond their current socio-economic status. Most importantly, Genzennials are leading the iced coffee revolution.
Cold coffee is no longer a beverage reserved for hot summer afternoons. Morning consumption is rising, and roughly 50% of occasions occur in fall and winter, making this a multiple-daypart, year-round opportunity. Genzennials prefer iced coffee to hot and embrace the cafe experience, where they can order unique beverages to share with their circle.
To secure its fair share of this growing segment, Keurig launched a K-Iced family of brewers and new brew-over-ice pod flavors. With 33% of coffee still being consumed out of home, these innovations presented an opportunity to solidify Keurig’s presence within the coffee regimen of its shoppers while offering a solution to retailer partners who were not currently capturing these sales trends. And Genzennials provided the greatest opportunity to drive household penetration for the new K-Iced innovations.
Although Genzennials desire affordable ways to satisfy their iced coffee cravings, they often don’t believe that crafting at home delivers the quality of a coffeeshop experience. In addition, Keurig’s brand perception for quality and value among Genzennials was lagging the reputation it enjoys among the general coffee-drinking population. Our challenge, then, was to convince Genzennials to trust Keurig’s new brewer and coffee portfolio to deliver a quality, full-flavored iced coffee experience at home.
Campaign Outline
The core idea was: No compromise is needed. Bold flavor, affordability, and simplicity can be found at home on your countertop.
In summer 2023, Keurig set out to own the white space between Genzennials’ need for instant gratification and their desire for flavor perfection, positioning the brand’s new K-Iced portfolio as the way to get full-flavored, cafe-quality iced coffee at home. Keurig needed to provide salient education that would overcome not only the misconceptions around at-home brewing, but also the lack of awareness that iced pods and brew-over-ice technology even existed.
The campaign had a two-pronged approach to the activation:
First, to get the new K-Iced brewer into more households, we targeted Genzennial coffee aficionados, showing them how the new brewer and iced coffee pods work together with “As Easy as One, Two, Brew” communication. Visual integration focused on brewer functionality, displaying the “Brew Over Ice” button and the system’s versatility in brewing both hot and cold beverages.
Second, to increase sales velocity for the K-Cup pods, we targeted existing Keurig brewer households through the grocery channels where they currently replenish their stock. Messaging included a call to action to add iced pods to the purchase. We highlighted the fact that iced pods can be brewed in any Keurig system to produce cafe-quality drinks.
As a hub for consumer inspiration, the new K-Iced brewer and iced coffee pods were prominently featured on Keurig.com with clear education on functionality and a video demonstrating ease of use.
In-store displays distributed nationally addressed one or both target audiences based on each retailer’s product assortment. One hero display featured both the K-Iced brewer and Iced K-Cup pods for mass merchants selling both, while a second featured only the Iced K-Cups pods to appeal to existing Keurig households in the grocery channel.
To deliver a truly connected omnichannel experience, we customized all digital and physical activations by retailer. We delivered custom brand pages, in-store coffee-aisle takeovers, onsite and offsite media, paid search/social executions, in-store sampling and influencer content — activating through virtually every touchpoint in the shopper’s omnichannel path to purchase.
- At Kroger, we developed a coffee aisle takeover to intercept shoppers with a floor talker and in-aisle signage. We mailed sample boxes to Kroger shoppers who recently purchased a Keurig brewer or frequently bought K-Cup pods. Online, we developed a campaign hub for shoppers to learn more about iced coffee, encourage recipe creation, and drive conversion. Social influencers helped drive traffic to the campaign page.
- At Walmart, we launched the K-Iced Essentials Brewer and Iced K-Cup pods during the retailer’s back-to-college event, which earned mega-influencer promotion, TikTok content, home page placements, and an in-store feature that delivered an immediate lift in same-week sales.
- At Target, where guests seek new, trendy appliances, we shifted the creative to highlight a Target-exclusive K-Iced Plus Brewer and iced pods, with visual integration focused on the system’s versatility for brewing both hot and cold beverages. The message was brought to life through a strategic mix of onsite and offsite display, influencers, paid social, and connected TV.
Unique Activation Touchpoints
The marketing plan featured a number of unique executions through the media networks of retailer partners, including a connected TV campaign that was a first for Target’s Roundel. Influencer campaigns at Kroger and Target each delivered million impressions, respectively, far surpassing benchmarks.
In addition, the campaign’s two-pronged communication strategy produced messaging, advertising, and even product displays that reflected the specific merchandising strategies and shopper profiles of each key retailer partner.
Results
This extensive program solved a complex shopper problem, instilled consumer confidence, and tapped into a consumption trend to position the launch of K-Iced brewers and pods as a simple, affordable, quality solution to at-home coffee. The campaign had a groundbreaking impact not only on Keurig’s position within the iced category, but on the brand’s overall business.
Through a comprehensive national strategy and strategic retail partnerships that reached more than 5,000 stores, Keurig Dr Pepper and Mars United were able to drive incremental growth by shifting consumption occasions from out-of-home to at-home. Establishing an Iced subcategory within the Keurig portfolio brought the brand scale that secured critical digital and merchandising displays, further driving incremental growth.
