Growing a Coffee Brand with One Effective Way

Starting off a brand and growing it is a very tough task. Many fail during the process due to not implementing effective strategies. For this week's Gateway, we briefly look into the one effective way coffee brands use to grow and expand their presence: brand collaborations. 

Brand collaboration involves two or more brands joining forces together to create a product. A collaboration is a strong marketing strategy because it allows brands to expose themselves to totally different groups of audiences that are not within their target market. This is important because both brands can leverage each other to grow and expand, an effective strategy that not only benefits one side but both. Back in 2021, Off-White opened their flagship store in Paris, collaborating with %Arabica by having them set up a coffee spot on-site. This was incredibly benefiting for both parties as coffee lovers are now exposed to the fashion brand (having to visit the store to have the coffee), and fans of Off-White are now introduced to the coffee brand while shopping at the store. 

To make the collaboration unique, the % logo on all of the merchandises' packaging are added with Virgil Abloh's signature quotation marks around it, making it memorable for fans of both the two brands. Below are a list of other notable collaborations between coffee brands and other luxury brands, and how the end products came to be. 

1. Carhartt WIP x Rocket Espresso (2019)

2. Dolce & Gabbana x SMEG Drip Coffee Maker

3. Kalita x NEIGHBORHOOD (2022)

4. Espresso-Dyed Bags by PORTER & Sarutahiko Coffee (2017)

5. Big Pilot Bar in Seoul, in collaboration with Swiss Watchmaker IWC (2021)