SOMETHING TO SHARE

TitleSOMETHING TO SHARE
BrandDOUWE EGBERTS BELGIUM
Product/ServiceDOUWE EGBERTS COFFEE
Category D01. Social Video
Entrant JACOBS DOUWE EGBERTS BELGIUM Brussel, BELGIUM
Idea Creation BBDO BELGIUM Brussels, BELGIUM
Production LOVO FILMS Brussels, BELGIUM
Production 2 SONHOUSE Brussels, BELGIUM
Credits
Name Company Position
Arnaud Pitz BBDO Belgium Creative Director
Sebastien De Valck BBDO Creative Director
Louise Cornet BBDO Creative
Loup Delpierre BBDO Creative
Dr. Bowman Lovo Director
Lieve Raymaekers Bbdo Belgium Account Director
Ward Braeckevelt BBDO Belgium Account Manager
Wouter Van den Herrewegen BBDO Belgium Strategy
Renée Vermeire BBDO RTV Producer & Art Buyer
Marlies Neudt Freelance Producer
Nicolas Van Poeck BBDO Belgium Sound Producer
Leslie Verbist Freelance Post Production
Bert Brulez Lovo Producer
Cho Kuo Lovo Producer
Vanessa Barba Jacobs Douwe Egberts Marketing Director
Oriana Servais Jacobs Douwe Egberts Marketing Manager
Karen Van der Perre Jacobs Douwe Egberts Marketing Manager

Background

The latest brand tracker revealed that Douwe Egberts scores well on terms of ‘hospitality’, ‘togetherness’, ‘family’ and ‘warmth’. But they need to score higher on ‘optimism’, ‘openmindedness’, ‘true to yourself’. Be more ‘inspiring’.

Describe the strategy

We didn't want to talk about the product. Every other brand in the country is talking about quality, origin, expertise and aromas. We’re not differentiating on product level and we’re hardly an innovative hipster barista brand. So, we don’t talk about what is in the cup but what is happening around it. The insight that it’s easier to find courage over a coffee, made us believe that we should encourage sincere conversations.

Describe the execution

Douwe Egberts is an old brand. With a loyal, but ageing client population. But the brand has to remain fresh, stay relevant for younger generations. In short, Douwe Egberts has to rejuvenate without alienating the current buyers. So, we looked at what has young people feeling concerned. In a hyper-connected world, real connections are rare, especially between different generations. How can we ensure that generations understand and accept each other? Coffee is there when people have difficult conversations. Coffee is an invitation to dialogue. So, we write a simple and authentic story that shows tolerance and empathy of a father to his daughter.

List the results

After a few days, the commercial was not only picked up by advertising professionals, but also by the LGBTQ community around the world. In just a few days, the spot had 12.7 million views, 120K retweets and 523K likes on one single share. The commercial gave courage to people to do their coming out and helped parents to learn how to react. It was a huge success, widely praised by the international JDE management. They congratulated Douwe Egberts for their audacity and encouraged the entire network to do the same.