Starbucks’ new “It’s Never Just Coffee” campaign highlights the brand’s relevance to Canadian customers’ daily lives.

Deborah Neff, VP of product and marketing at Starbucks Canada, tells strategy that the Leo Toronto-led campaign’s core objective is to resonate with Canadians by authentically representing their relationships with the brand. Through thoughtful casting and storytelling, she says the brand highlights moments Canadians can identify with, reinforcing the emotional bonds they’ve formed with Starbucks and complementing the enhanced services now available in stores.

“We ultimately wanted to connect to the values of Canadians and what they told us about what a trip to Starbucks means to them – community, joy, special,” she says. “Life is incredibly busy and a lot of us struggle to recognize the power of the little things, which can be those everyday moments that make us feel special.”

The campaign is built on four ads – “Extra Mile,” “Peace Offering,” “Therapy Sesh” and “Working From Home” – presenting everyday occurrences at Starbucks. From friends crying and laughing over coffee to a customer-barista connection, the creative positions Starbucks as a space ripe human connection. The ads were directed by Canadian filmmaker Mark Zibert and shot at a Starbucks shop in Toronto.

The media plan includes digital, social (paid, owned and influencer), OOH, search and TV, with Spark Foundry handling the buy.

Neff says, it was important to “get back to the brand’s roots” and re-introduce Starbucks as a community hub to drive brand love and support the vision of the company’s new CEO.

“We know that coffee can play a much larger role in people’s lives. Since the beginning, Starbucks has always been a special place to gather and connect,” she says. “We’re woven into the communities we serve, and our stores are gathering places for conversations, connection and joy over handcrafted beverages expertly crafted by our baristas.”

Maryann Rusnak, president of Spark Foundry, tells strategy that the multi-channel campaign is designed to reach a broad demographic audience between the ages 18 and 54.

Rusnak says the OOH was strategically incorporated into the media plan to follow the small moments in Canadians’ lives (outside the digital space) and foster a connection with them through consistent, non-disruptive exposure. Their approach was to find high-traffic placements that seamlessly integrate with Canadians’ daily routines (transit, movie theatres, highway boards) and present them with creative that resonates with them in that moment.

“So whether they’re at the movies, commuting, or simply walking down the street, these everyday interactions become a meaningful brand touchpoint,” she says.

Rusnak adds that the team is scaling up across the board, introducing TV for the first time within brand and strengthening its OOH, video and social strategies to maximize reach and reinforce its new value proposition.

“While we’ve run smaller brand activations in Canada before, this marks our first national campaign at this scale, with a unified message across all channels designed to firmly establish our presence in the Canadian market.”