How La Colombe is changing its look under new owner Chobani

La Colombe is getting a new look under new owner Chobani, while debuting an ad campaign that plays up its ready-to-drink coffee cold brews as the “The World’s Frothiest Draft Latte.” The rebrand and stepped-up advertising come as 30-year-old La Colombe prepares to expand grocery availability under sales and distribution partner Keurig Dr Pepper, which began working with the coffee brand in July. Chobani acquired La Colombe late last year in a $900 million deal. La Colombe, which also sells coffee at 32 cafes across seven U.S. states, is attempting to better connect the cafe experience to the canned cold brews and lattes it sells in grocery stores and other locations. The new campaign does this by showing a slow-motion pour into a glass with the frothy cold draft latte spilling over. “It's one thing to tell people it’s a frothy beverage,” Kathryn O’Connor, chief marketing officer at La Colombe, said in an interview. “But when you pour it in a glass and watch the separation, that is the wow factor, and we wanted to show that to the world.” The ad, which will run on linear TV and streaming, paid social and include experiential events, comes from New York-based design shop Mrs&Mr, which also handled the redesign. The new look updates La Colombe’s line of ready-to-drink canned draft lattes. The most noticeable change was flipping and redrawing the brand’s red dove. The old version had the dove flying to the left, making it seem like it was flying backward. It’s now smaller, navy, and flying to the right, “because people read from left to right,” said Kate Wadia, co-founder of Mrs&Mr. The cans are also larger, with individually-sold cans now 11 fluid ounces, while cans in packs remain 9 fluid ounces. Mrs&Mr also created a new typeface for the draft latte cans called Draft Latte Sans. The logo has irregular crossbars to give it a more imperfect, human feel. The design also keeps La Colombe’s original navy blue, but ups the creams, beiges and golds in a nod to the product’s fresh milk and frothiness. The new design will roll out on packaging and in stores, as well as at the brand’s cafes, including on staff uniforms and signage. “We are doing a reset now for how we show up nationally because of our distribution partner,” O’Connor said. “We wanted to connect to our heritage, and ensure we are presenting the brand the right way across channels.” The new look is meant to resonate with core customers, those who care about quality ingredients, and lower sugar. “Ready-to-drink coffee has been around for a while, but the other offerings are full of sugar,” O’Connor said. A La Colombe vanilla draft latte has 12 grams of sugar, while a Starbucks bottled vanilla frappuccino has 32 grams of sugar, and Dunkin’ French vanilla bottle iced coffee has 40 grams of sugar. “We also know the future of coffee is cold,” O’Connor continued. “We know younger, Gen Z consumers come into coffee through cold coffee, so there is a target on that younger demographic as well.” According to a fall 2023 trend report from the National Coffee Association and reported by Food and Beverage Insider, cold brew coffee popularity has increased by 300% since 2016. Since 2019, the number of people who said they drink cold brew regularly has increased by 60%. Yogurt maker Chobani acquired La Colombe to break into new categories, while also complementing its line of coffee creamers and oat milks. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Chobani (@chobani) Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya was heavily involved in the new look. “Hamdi came to us with a vision for the brand,” said Daniel Wadia, co-founder of Mrs&Mr. “It was not the usual client-agency relationship. He was not a passive CEO approving drawings. He worked with us, and it was great to see that level of passion and involvement. It’s unusual.” It also made the process more enjoyable for the agency, with Ulukaya opting for physical paper. “His eye for detail was unmatched in what we have seen from a CEO,” said Kate Wadia. “He didn’t like digital, he wanted it off the computer screen. He likes printouts, paper, big pinboards and scissors. We were cutting and sticking and pasting in real time.”

How La Colombe is changing its look under new owner Chobani

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