2006 HOME & CONSUMER DURABLES WINNER

SPECIAL MERIT AWARD - BEST MEDIA OWNER PROPOSAL

CAMPAIGN - Unleash the Barista

AGENCY - bellamyhayden

CLIENT - Sunbeam

SPONSORED BY
www.aana.com.au

OBJECTIVE

Sunbeam isn't European so nobody really believed it made good coffee machines. Real coffee credentials needed to be injected into the brand to confront this lack of perceived legitimacy. Five research groups among recent coffee machine buyers revealed three main issues: European brands had a disproportionately higher salience than their market share, people struggled to see Sunbeam as a coffee specialist because it was famous as an appliance generalist, and the purchase process had little to do with advertising - communication recall for coffee machines was poor. The task was clear: Sunbeam needed to build credentials in coffee.

CAMPAIGN

A coffee machine user's competence as a barista could mean the difference between a good and a bad product experience, so Sunbeam needed to pay more attention to the users of the machines. bellamyhayden developed a new framework with "experience" at its heart. "Credibility in coffee" was the vision, seen through the lens of the user, not the brand.

The focus was on the ideal experience Sunbeam could offer - if customers could be taught how to make the perfect cup, surely their experience would be enhanced. So the idea of a coffee "academy", free to buyers of Sunbeam coffee machines, was born. New communication was created, centred around the academy. Advertising ran only in the Sunday press, with the coffee academy the new proposition. "Unleashing the barista" became the core communication. Sunbeam already used world champion barista Paul Bassett for consultation and at trade shows.

As the only Australian to win the world champion title, Bassett was chosen to run the coffee academy and endorse the brand. To ensure people knew who he was, a publicist was hired to increase his profile. Sunbeam's manual was redesigned, and an instructional DVD came free with purchase. Sunbeam also created its own consumer magazine, The Short Black Book, to infiltrate the café experience of reading while drinking coffee. The magazine became Australia's biggest ambient custom publishing initiative.

RESULTS

Sunbeam is now the market leader in coffee machines. A Newspoll study showed that top of mind association increased 45% for Sunbeam, against static European brands. Sunbeam's unaided association with coffee machines increased by one third. Familiarity with Paul Bassett resulted in greater spontaneous awareness for Sunbeam in coffee machines. Sunbeam's growth exceeded market growth, while the average price paid for a Sunbeam machine increased 30%. Applying a confidential margin, an estimated every dollar invested was returned with a further $1.87 in profit.

JUDGE'S COMMENTS

"The user nervousness around making great coffee at home was overcome through a strong property in the coffee academy, which was executed beautifully through the channels utilised. “It allowed a domestic player to compete in a category dominated by European brands."