Brewing up social goodness – a mystery campaign succeeds for Hummingbird Coffee
Emma Maciaszek
Working with two other agencies, Convergence helped devise a campaign for Hummingbird Coffee – the country’s leading specialty fresh coffee brand – where the first ‘teaser’ phase didn’t even mention the client.
Instead, social media posts, billboards, street stickers and activations, advertorials, influencer engagement and online ads drew wide attention to an anonymous coffee brand, for which “Little Things Matter”.
The public was invited discover who was behind this campaign, and the many ‘little things’ it takes to produce both a high-quality product plus make a positive difference to local communities around New Zealand.
Campaign messages involved authentic stories such as a long-standing relationship with Trade Aid and a Green Bean Fund that has helped regenerate Christchurch following the earthquakes. There were also references to an ongoing partnership with the Student Volunteer Army supporting Auckland and Hawke’s Bay to recover from last year’s flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle, and the brand’s charitable work dating back as far as 2011.
The hero message was a subtle play on words: “Does ‘good’ coffee taste better?”
After a few weeks, phase two, which followed the big ‘reveal’ the mystery brand was Hummingbird, invited consumers to enter a draw to win 1 of 100 coffee ‘share packs’, with a total prize value of $30,000.
“We were immediately drawn to this unconventional creative concept,” says Mike Stribrny, Marketing Manager at Jacobs Douwe Egberts.
“We loved that it was integrated, bold, maximised our budget and would achieve great cut-through. It’s taken a huge amount of work by everyone involved and we’re super excited by the results we’re seeing. It has delivered far beyond our expectations .”
Campaign results:
- 1.48 million Kiwis reached
- 26% increase in online sales during the campaign period
- Social media following grew 15%, with an 867% growth in engagement
- 64% growth in Hummingbird’s email database
- Organic traffic to the website grew 59%
- Countless beautiful, organic stories and anecdotes from loyal customers
- Engagement with key food influencers, plus Instagram endorsements from branding and coffee experts.
The campaign objective – to drive reappraisal of Hummingbird Coffee and communicate that through the simple act of choosing Hummingbird consumers can help create a positive impact –was achieved.
