George Clooney is going to appear in a new print campaign for coffee brand Nespresso. The marketing will feature images of Clooney alone in a dark suit and then with a Nespresso Grand Cru in his hand. The idea is that the ad of Clooney alone will read “Extraordinary Man”, while the one with the coffee too, will say “Make the ordinary extraordinary”.
There will also be an outdoor element to the campaign on the London Underground.
Nespresso is a fascinating brand. It is essentially a “masstige” idea; it’s upmarket but not gourmet. It can’t be seen as truly luxurious as it’s widely available and it’s machines are priced at a reasonable level. But at the same time, nor are its “coffee pods” used in the machines cheap and accessible to anyone with low incomes.
So why has Nespresso seen annual sales rise by more than 30% over each of the last eight years? First, smart pricing. You can buy a Nespresso machine in any department store. And for a coffee machine, it’s pretty good value, usually under £100, which is much cheaper than brands like Gaggia. The machines look very professional, but the price tag isn’t horrendous.
Second, you can only use the machines with special little coffee ‘pods’ ordered online and over the phone direct from the company. Which is pretty restrictive and guarantees the company a flow of income. People pay for a relatively inexpensive coffee machine and once they own the equipment, they are tied into buying the pods (since the machines won’t work with anything else). And what’s more, Nespresso treats people as belonging to a club, so they actively like being restricted in where they can purchase the coffee.
Nestle was quick to spot that coffee drinkers are also coffee lovers. People cannot go without their caffeine hit and with a little encouragement, they’ll discuss their addiction and talk to other people with the same issues. While many people visit coffee shops, that is normally where the relationship between customer and company stops.
Nespresso, with its community The Nespresso Club, gives people access to tasting events and coffee-machine maintenance assistance among other benefits. It made something special out of an everyday experience. And it is reaping the financial rewards.
And it has George Clooney in its advertising. What’s wrong with that? (Nice pic of him in a previous ad below…)
October 19, 2009 at 3:28 am |
[...] Nespresso launches new ad campaign with George Clooney (brandstrategy.wordpress.com) [...]
November 19, 2009 at 11:19 pm |
[...] coffee reasons. You also join a “club” or “tribe” of coffee lovers). People didn’t mind being locked in to using the pods because it guaranteed quality, ease of use, and “good coffee every [...]