For its new Kraft Café Barista coffee, Kraft Heinz is drawing upon the recognition of its teddy bear mascots at point of sale.

Steven Tschirhart, associate director of marketing for coffee at Kraft heinz, tells strategy that drawing on the familiarity consumers have with the Kraft Bears is an opportunity to bring the love for them into a new category that traditionally has been functionally driven.

Tapping into the emotional connection is important to coffee rituals, and according to Tschirhart, it can complete the breakfast occasion with consumers who are already using its spreads as part of their morning meal.

This is the company’s busiest time of year, and it wanted to execute a shopper program to convey that the product was in market and available throughout the festive season. Since Kraft Café Barista is located in an entirely different part of the aisle – if not the whole grocery store – as its peanut butter and hazelnut spread, a cross-category shopper program including both spreads and coffee was an excellent way for the Kraft Bears to introduce the new brand and let people know where they can locate it in store,  Tschirhart says.

At the retail level, Tschirhart says it’s important that Kraft Café Barista stand out, as the coffee shelf can be a large, saturated set. “We feel the combination of the brown woodgrain, which adds warmth and a premium feel, as well as the presence of the Kraft Bears helps Kraft Café Barista pop out on shelf.”

It’s using the side panels to showcase Kraft Café Barista’s recyclable and compostable packaging and it “kept the front clean and simple, to emphasize our great tasting premium coffee.”

Coupon and sampling will be part of its 2023 playbook as well. “We have traditionally seen high trial rates on products featuring the Kraft Bears, and with that knowledge, knew that we could focus our coupon efforts for 2023 and beyond,” Tschirhart says.

Right now, Kraft Café Barista is available across Canada at local grocery retailers and online via Amazon. L’Atelier managed in-store marketing and Davis led packaging design.