Peet’s Coffee recently released a running advertisement on Hulu – and I noticed that their marketing strategy was extremely negative.
Originally, I didn’t plan to name them, and I didn’t want to drag this out as if I were picking sides. But the advertisement made me extremely uncomfortable, and I figured out why…
Peet’s Coffee created a series of advertisements that were directed toward plain black coffee drinkers. The ad consists of someone or multiple people who request a string of drinks or orders that are intricate and unethically aligned with Peet’s Coffee standards. They end the ad with a negation of these customers’ preferences and state their standards, e.g. 10,000 hours in the art of roasting, for “real coffee drinkers”.
The issue with these ads isn’t their dedication to creating a real roaster’s benchmark. The issue is due to their negative perception of these, what I’m calling for lack of a better term, “sparkle coffee drinkers”. By alienating these “sparkle coffee drinkers”, you’re putting a strain on people who may not like the taste of black coffee.
So not only are they creating a bias between coffee drinkers, they are also making the process of ordering coffee uncomfortable. It creates a judgemental environment and an inability to order even a latte or coffee with sugar.
Their ad makes the watcher feel uncomfortable up until the very end. Discomfort isn’t necessarily a bad emotion to evoke in your watcher, but the end must provide a resolution for said emotion, or else it creates a cringe effect. As a result, Peet’s Coffee left us with a fatal marketing mistake.
There are multiple ways to create advertisements correlated to your competition, but remember to gage in the following practices:
✅Attack the company, whether directly or indirectly. You don’t need to name the exact business or location. A simple nod to their practices will create connections in the consumer’s brain.
❌Don’t attack their ideal clients! By making fun of or minimizing the customer experience, you’re diminishing the possibility of converting them into your own sales.
✅Give the customer something to think about, make it uncomfortable! But always give them a resolution for their pain points or it will leave them with discomfort for your company or product.
❌Don’t leave them hanging! Make sure there’s a viable resolution that won’t leave your viewers with a bad taste in their mouths.
✅Support your customers in all their forms. Let them know they have your support on all terms. Give them reasons to come back and enjoy your products. When catering to an ideal audience, be open to the possibility of having other audiences enjoy your service.
❌Don’t alienate and create biases based on your view of their business! This makes it difficult for them to support you in return. Not only are you burning the bridge for potential customers – you are also making it difficult for your customers to continue giving you their business.
Peet’s Coffee created advertisement ideas that weren’t inherently bad, but their execution was a bit flawed. All issues aside, their practice still remains relevant and inspiring for change. Standard practice has everyone constantly exploring new ideas for advertisements, but we must always remember to emotionally uplift our audience.
The most important factor for ads is to get people talking and engaged!