Retail & Consumer
Public Relations
Top-tier outlet
features
Impressions
Cans sold in
the first hour
La Colombe’s canned Draft Latte was launching in less than three weeks, with only a handful of samples available. But we needed to get the word out and educate consumers on the only ready-to-drink latte that actually had a latte texture.
When it comes to covering a new beverage, most media subscribe to the “try it before you buy it” philosophy. Not so easy with a couple dozen sample cans and a tight time frame. We moved quickly, developing an extremely targeted and multi-phased media relations plan executed in the weeks leading up to the release, and on the official launch day.
We hand-selected a few key editors to “grab coffee” with us in NYC—inviting them to a local café to sample Draft Latte with La Colombe’s CEO and Co-Founder, Todd Carmichael. A week before release, we also asked a small group of influencers to join Todd at his flagship café, so they could sample some lattes and explore the La Colombe lab where they were developed.
On launch day, we conducted targeted outreach to the top national and regional news outlets in existing La Colombe café markets, consumer lifestyle publications, and beverage trade publications to help spread the word.
One month later, Draft Latte was featured in more than 45 top-tier outlets, including advance features in Fast Company, Philadelphia Business Journal, Philly.com, PhillyMag.com, and Refinery29.com. A variety of hits followed the official launch in national, regional, and trade outlets, such as BevNet, Chicago Tribune, Eater.com, Examiner.com, Food & Wine, GearPatrol.com, TimeOut, UrbanDaddy.com, and Uncrate.com, among others.
