Nespresso: Virtual Coffee Break Brings Austrians Together

Drinking coffee together is a cherished experience in nearly every culture, but COVID-19 disrupted the social occasion at its very core. As Nespresso Austria saw coffee habits changing dramatically overnight with lockdowns and social distancing orders, the brand needed to find a new way to keep the coffee community together and spread the brand’s message of care. Ketchum’s survey found that while consumers were drinking more coffee by themselves, they seriously missed the warm and familiar social interactions over coffee. To make the experience more “social” again, the Virtual Nespresso Coffee Break on Instagram, led by the brand’s expert coffee ambassador Michael Ilsanker, was launched. He invited Austrians to have a virtual coffee break with him, to try out his creative coffee recipes and to share “coffee greetings” using the hashtag #kaffeegemeinsam (#coffeetogether). In just the first weeks after launch, over 450 coffee lovers joined Nespresso’s Virtual Coffee Break to share a cup of joy together. Just one month after launch, the campaign had a reach of 3.5 million, with 5 million interactions and 300k video views. A paid partnership with Austria’s main broadcaster ORF had the outlet stream live Coffee Breaks on their homepage, allowing users to engage live with baristas. Overall media coverage had an earned reach of 23 million.