Löfbergs
Stimulating the coffee market
THE CHALLENGE WE TOOK ON
Löfbergs has been a big name in Sweden for well over a hundred years, but how could we introduce them to UK supermarkets and achieve stand-out in such a well-served coffee sector?
After extensive audience and market research, our successful launch campaign in late 2022 leveraged their Swedish heritage, bringing bold and quirky creative to the aisles as well as social, web, events and digital OOH.
But the challenge didn’t stop there. Now we’d bonded over a brew and established a dynamic working relationship with both the Swedish and UK Löfbergs teams, we needed to keep the momentum going – driving sales, entering new stores, continuing to grow on social, building brand awareness and even giving the packaging a makeover.
To fully understand the audience, we used our 360i model including qualitative and quantitative research, customer journey analysis and social listening
The brand personality we created from these insights uses bold bursts of Swedish energy, language and colour
Our ongoing work for Löfbergs spans research, strategy, creative, social, events, in-store and production
DISCOVER
Our comprehensive audience and market research – plus our deep understanding of behavioural economics, habitual shopping, confirmation bias and loss aversion – showed that Löfbergs’ Swedishness was the key to differentiating (because Sweden has such strong associations with ‘a better way of life’ in UK minds).
This ‘place branding’ was successful in the launch campaign and has remained central to our approach as it has evolved.
Qualitative research conducted more recently has confirmed that Löfbergs is considered ‘a coffee for all occasions’, and UK coffee lovers are warm to the idea of an accessible premium brand – the exact sweet spot we aim for.
DEFINE & DEVELOP
We continually review and refine our market insights, rich customer personas and competitive brand position. By keeping every element highly targeted by audience, insight and channel, we can focus our activity for Löfbergs in the right places at the right times and deliver maximum impact. For example:
- Leveraging the brand’s Swedish heritage and cultural ties on social media for engagement and stand-out on a limited budget
- Managing Google Ads and search to spearhead digital awareness and click-throughs
- Revamping web content for a holistic experience with social and ‘always-on’ sales via online retailers
- Tactical Clubcard price-led launch in Tesco to establish the brand in the UK
- Exclusive product and packaging launches with Waitrose, defining Löfbergs as a premium offering
“The scale of our brief was such that I was expecting to split it between multiple ‘specialist’ agencies. However, working with krow.x really has provided us with everything we need from a single agency. From detailed and extensive customer research that identified a clear proposition through to creative testing and finished, delivered assets (both online and offline), every need has been fulfilled with a level of continuity and consistency that you wouldn’t get from multiple agencies.”
Will Cole - Marketing Director, Löfbergs
Will Cole
Marketing Director, Löfbergs
DEPLOY
Our bold and quirky creative is unlike anything seen before in coffee comms, delivering a real difference and grabbing attention when people are short on time.
From billboards to shelf boxes, we leverage the brand assets and tone of voice at every opportunity. The personality we’ve created is unique within the Löfbergs global family and has strengthened our relationship further with the Löfbergs team… so they’re trusting us with even more exciting opportunities in the pipeline. We’re looking forward to working together on:
Refreshed social
Next year we’ll be exploring a video-first approach across social and taking to TikTok and YouTube. We’ll also be expanding the range of recipes and coffee knowledge content online.
More retailers
Löfbergs’ new packaging designs have been a disruptor on the shelves in Tesco and Waitrose, and more retailers are set to follow suit. To aid these ambitions we’re also working on promotional materials to surprise and delight supermarket buyers.
Out of home
We’ve got two big campaigns planned – watch this space!
Löfbergs 1kg Brazil product is now in Tesco’s top 10 for the category
Paid social impressions have grown +289% month-on-month
In Tesco stores, Löfbergs is purchased more frequently than competitors Tesco Finest and Taylors
THE RESULT
Here are some of our key highlights for Löfbergs in-store and online:
Retail
Löfbergs has so far launched in over 500 Tesco stores, with sales steadily growing. The brand has risen to become a considerable challenger to retail staples such as Lavazza and Taylors, or as Dunnhumby’s research for Tesco puts it:
“Despite being the three most regularly consumed brands in customers’ repertoires, Tesco Finest, Taylors and Tesco standard are purchased less frequently than Löfbergs.”
Löfbergs Brazil 1kg is now a firm favourite in Tesco’s top 10 and was Waitrose’s best-selling 1kg whole bean in the weeks following launch.
Social
Since introducing a new look and feel for social we’ve seen consistent growth on Facebook and Instagram. These lovely stats cover average month-on-month growth for our paid social activity for the 12 months from November 2022:
