Second Cup hopes a new line of iced beverages will help warm up sales this summer.
The coffee retailer is banking on the success of the Frappé, a blended beverage that starts with a shot of espresso and then allows customers to combine ice, milk and mocha, vanilla or caramel flavour shots to their liking. Available year-round, the beverage sells for between $3.75 and $4.95.
The new drinks replace Icespresso and Chillate, which were part of Second Cup’s product lineup for several years, says Vanda Provato, vice-president, marketing and category at Second Cup.
“Our goal was to bring forward something that was authentic and handcrafted. The core of that was really the focus on the freshly pulled shot of espresso,” Provato says. “You have other beverages in the category that are made more with coffee mixes or with powder bases,” she says of competitors’ offerings.
The Frappé has been launched with a 15-second cinema spot, with the theme “a fresh shot for summer.” It was created by Strano + Pettigrew Design Associates and is airing in French and English at more than 250 Cineplex theatres until June 25. “We wanted to do one big burst to get some awareness out there,” because it’s a big product introduction and a growing segment of the market.
“You’re not going to see a lot of mass advertising from Second Cup,” she says, because of a lack of budget and a desire to do more one-on-one brand engagement.
“We are moving away from a focus on the mass, but much more a focus on personalized, individualized experiences and I think we’re taking the same approach with our marketing.”
Frappé was launched at an event at Second Cup’s new Cafe of the Future in downtown Toronto, attended by about 20 bloggers and influencers.
As well, there will be national sampling days on June 9 and 16 between 2 and 4 p.m. when Frappé will be given away for free. “You can do all the photography, all the beautiful pretty pictures that you want, but we found that getting trial, getting sampling is really key to people understanding how great [and] how authentic these beverages are,” she says.
Members of the new loyalty club who try the drink are also getting bonus points.
First quarter same store sales this year were down 1.1% compared with the same quarter in 2014. However, this is a “significant improvement” to first quarter 2014 same store sales, which were down 6.9% compared to first quarter 2013.
“Definitely we have a more positive sales trend,” Provato says, but “we still have a lot of work to do.”
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