Family (and friends) have given the Grumpy Mule Coffee brand a much-needed radical revitalisation, with a distinctive new personality that sets it apart from the ‘aloof’ speciality coffee brands.
Backdrop.
For more than a decade the partnership between Cafédirect and F&f has been growing. Through ongoing brand refreshes and strengthening the company’s position, Cafédirect has risen to a 30m turnover business. Building off this success Cafédirect acquired Bewley’s UK roastery in June 2023, with the specialty coffee brand Grumpy Mule as part of their exciting portfolio.
F&f were tasked to help the sales and marketing team shape up one ‘big idea’ and communications platform, with the aim of revitalising all brand points of touch, including packaging, point of sale and comms styling.
Standing out in a standoffish market.
With each year that goes by, the specialist coffee market becomes ever more crowded – and duller. On the whole, speciality coffee lacks personality and distinctiveness, in both image and message, with the majority marketing themselves as pretty exclusive, even ‘aloof’.
Grumpy Mule drinkers could be described as ‘established coffee enthusiasts’, typically not willing to compromise on quality or their values when it comes to coffee. However, people simply looking for a great cup of coffee can be overwhelmed by the complexity of language that the specialty coffee world insists upon.
This gave us a space to help set Grumpy Mule apart through the idea that great tasting, specialty coffee should be ‘easy to get’ for everyone, not just the so-called experts and aficionados.
A feisty new proposition:
Grumpy Mule has always been proud of its Yorkshire roots, highest ethical sourcing, unique slow roasting techniques and attention to detail. It’s a no nonsense approach to coffee making.
“As our key brand asset in the mule was well loved, but we didn’t want it to be seen as a brand character with a bad attitude”. DJ Johnston. Strategy director F&f.
The brand had to move away from the grumpy tone of voice it was employing to mostly complain about standards and other’s approach – instead, develop a more fun, feisty and positive way of talking up excellence.
The newly developed ‘Kick-Ass coffee’ brand line conveys a positive attitude without anger.
“This has allowed us to bring in a bit of friendly wit without going too far into the mule puns. At the end of the day, Grumpy Mule is a specialty coffee, so overusing jokes wouldn’t be effective in reassuring consumers they are getting the best quality coffee”. Lorraine Kelleher, Marketing Controller, Cafédirect.
Bold new looks.
The new personality enables us to take bolder and punchier design decisions across the brand – visually and verbally. The mule sits proud front and centre of packaging, with a simplified ‘no nonsense’ approach to range, flavour notes and provenance.
To build friendliness and connectivity, the dominance of heavy black has been replaced with a bold signature orange and a warmer coffee-coloured dark brown shade. Off Pack, punchy impact also plays out across the look and feel, focussed heavily on bold headline language and the newly adopted key visual of the high-altitude mountains.
“So instead of having the mule kicking its own brand name about, a revitalised, bolder and more ‘iconic’ mule is proudly positioned on the highest peak. The mule is now more social and more relatable”. Alex Durbridge. Creative Director, F&f.
F&f have developed new brand guidelines and will continue to work across other brand applications throughout the relaunch.
“It was great to work on this exciting relaunch with F&f, we had a lot of fun and cannot wait to see it on shelf and in outlet very soon”. Gus Lunt, Commercial Director Cafédirect.
Source: Family (and friends)
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