Following last year’s adrenaline-fuelled “Kickstart Your Heart” campaign, Kicking Horse Coffee and Lifelong Crush are offering a personality quiz in an attempt to provide drinkers with a fresh way to connect with what’s in their cup. In its new national campaign, the coffee brand is bringing the distinctive elements of its black packaging and vibrant accent colours to life, with each of the 11 blend icons being reimagined as a “Blend Sign.”

The campaign was created by Lifelong Crush, with media planning and buying by Epitaph and public relations by Agnostic. In addition to the blend sign quiz, the campaign spans OOH, social, OLV and features a pop-up where people can get their blend sign tattooed on them for free.

Lori Hatcher-Hillier, CMO at Kicking Horse Coffee, said in a press release the brand is attempting to deepen the personal connection consumers have with its blends. “This campaign is about honouring what makes each person unique, and building a deeper, more personal bond with their coffee through storytelling,” Hatcher-Hillier said. “Our current drinkers are ride or die for their favourite blends. They feel so strongly about it they debate in our social media comments.”

Through OLVs, contextual OOH and social content, the campaign brings each blend’s personality to life, tapping into familiar archetypes and inviting consumers to see themselves in the lineup. “From the spiritually aligned, low-key wild aura of Three Sisters, to the audacious, unhinged-in-the-best-way energy of Kick Ass, each blend sign embodies a set of qualities that wild-hearted, high-achieving Kicking Horse Coffee drinkers possess,” according to the brand.

Christina Yu, CCO at Lifelong Crush, said that the campaign plays with the idea that people wear their coffee like a badge, similar to their star sign. “This idea hit because it taps into something universal: we all want to be seen, understood and part of something,” Yu said in the release. “And when your coffee gets you that, well, you stick with it.”

Geoff Gingerich, SVP strategy at Lifelong Crush, agreed. He said the proclivity of people to categorize themselves “is part of how we make sense of the world. Whether it’s horoscopes, Hogwarts houses or coffee blends. The point is connection. This campaign invites people to explore the full lineup of blends, but more importantly, to see themselves in it.”

Kicking Horse Coffee added that “Blend Signs” marks a more intimate next step in the evolution of the brand’s newly established platform.