MINNEAPOLIS Caribou Coffee, the nation’s second-largest coffeehouse chain, unveiled Monday a brand makeover and a new line of tea-based lattes. The 17-year-old chain has updated its logo, signage, packaging and décor in a rebranding that carries the new tagline “Life is short. Stay awake for it.”
Caribou’s new look represents the most visible part of the company’s strategy to shift focus away from system expansion and toward growing sales by improving the customer experience at the store level, a move begun during chief executive Mike Tattersfield’s arrival in August 2008. That strategy has produced new-product launches like the November debut of chocolate drinks made with real Guittard chocolate and the January rollout of oatmeal, as well as the rebranding.
The moves are in response to a two-year same-store sales decline at the more than 400 locations throughout the 535 coffeehouses in the United States. For fiscal 2009, which ended Jan. 3, corporate same-store sales fell 2.3 percent, and followed a 3.5 percent drop in fiscal 2008. Caribou’s latest quarter, however, did show a 0.2 percent uptick in same-store sales, which some analysts have said is a result of more spending among higher-end consumers and more coffee marketing among major players, including Caribou and Starbucks Coffee.
“Our brand relaunch runs much deeper than the new logo design; it really signifies the evolution of our company,” Tattersfield said. “We are passionate about and committed to creating the best cup of coffee possible and an experience that extends beyond our products. We are working to ensure that all aspects of the customer experience are at the same premium level of quality as our coffee.”
Company officials point out that the new logo represents the “seize the day” attitude of Caribou’s brand makeover. The logo’s leaping caribou image has a coffee bean as its center, while the antlers are made from a coffee-colored “C.” The shield serving as the logo’s background imitates signage from the United State’s national-park system, an homage to the fateful hike at Alaska’s Denali National Park during which Caribou Coffee’s cofounders were inspired to start the company.
Senior vice president of marketing Alfredo Martel said the initiative was developed not only to re-engage customers, but also Caribou staff members, who will receive additional training in service and for making the new Tea Latte Fusion products.
“Of course, we’re doing a major customer-facing rebranding, but the internal audience is just as important,” Martel said. “Every single one of our employees has received new apparel and a brand book, so they can understand what direction we’re going in.”
Initial response from the store level has been so positive, Martel said, that the corporate headquarters’ e-mail server nearly crashed from the volume of enthusiastic messages from the field.
“The stores got the brand books, and everybody’s freaking,” Martel said. “If we’re to judge this by how our employees are acting, it’s going to be great.”
Caribou also launched Tea Latte Fusions, which are made in-store with a tea extract and are available in five flavors: traditional chai, black thai, caramel earl gray, vanilla-pomegranate oolong, and a caffeine-free cinnamon-rooibos variety.
Various marketing materials and creative are in development and will roll out soon, Martel said.
“First and foremost is our in-store experience,” he said. “The first order of business is to make sure we energize the brand experience, and the first wave is in the retail space, with new exterior and interior décor, point-of-purchase designs, community boards, and new iconics and service elements.”
Cups, napkins and other signage will be covered with wording that represents parts of life worth staying awake for, such as “Be the first to apologize” or “Don’t wait for New Year’s to make a resolution.”
Caribou’s website will relaunch with the new look April 5, Martel said, with a new store locator as well as a locator that maps every grocery store and retail outlet that sells the chain’s packaged coffee. Creative for the company’s ongoing radio and broadcast marketing is being finalized, Martel added.
Contact Mark Brandau at [email protected].
