National launch of Costa Coffee Launch event designed and realized for Costa Coffee

Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 and is known worldwide for its characteristic blend of Arabica and Robusta coffee beans, which give it a naturally sweet, smooth and distinctive taste. In Switzerland, the brand is managed and distributed by Coca-Cola HBC Schweiz AG, and Costa Coffee products have also been available at Coop since spring 2022.

Welcome to Switzerland, Costa Coffee

The arrival of Costa Coffee on the Swiss market naturally needed to be celebrated in style and the new launch publicized. To achieve this, we were commissioned with the conception, planning and implementation of the three-day launch event for Costa Coffee. With a pop-up coffee shop in the concourse of the largest and busiest railroad station in Switzerland, Zurich main station, the brand was presented to the public in an eye-catching and effective way. The coffee truck, which was also designed and converted by USP back in 2020, was the focal point of a stylish coffee lounge that used Art Deco elements and old telephone booths familiar from England to create a trendy atmosphere and stylish ambience for the coffee experience. From the Costa Coffee Truck, USP-trained baristas served perfectly prepared coffee, including artful latte art as the crowning glory or, on request, in tasty iced coffee variations. Visitors were also able to see for themselves the performance of the machines and the quality of the prepared coffee at two Costa Coffee machines, the so-called Costa Express. Over the course of the three-day activation, the team served over 1,000 cups of coffee a day.

23,000 trials and a multiple of communication contacts

In addition to the stylish coffee lounge, USP also organized an accompanying sampling campaign that used eye-catching branding at several touchpoints to generate further contacts and trials among the target group. In this way, the high frequency of the location was optimally utilized and a total of 23,000 potential consumers were reached - and many times more communication contacts were generated.

Since then, the Costa Coffee Truck has been touring Switzerland as part of a roadshow, visiting various Coop locations, providing trials and an emotional brand experience via product tastings and encouraging the target group to buy the products available at Coop.

Briefing

Conception and realization of a brand-appropriate launch event at a highly frequented location as the starting signal for the national launch of Costa Coffee.

Solution

Atmospheric event concept with barista feeling to document the coffee expertise of Costa Coffee with the Costa Coffee Truck developed and converted by USP as the centerpiece of the implementation - flanked by a sampling at Zurich main station to generate as many trials as possible with the starting signal.

Result

Tasty coffee, lots of latte art, enthusiastic visitors and an eye-catching presentation ensured a lasting brand experience and a brilliant start for Costa Coffee in Switzerland!