Asheville Marketing and Advertising - Renovo Technology

What is a brand to do when it finds itself caught in a place where it needs to change, or it will die?  More to the point, what do those who are charged with care and maintenance of the brand to do?

Evolve.

Interesting article in this months QSR Magazine, about the most recent CEO of Caribou Coffee, Michael Tattersfield.  Suffice it to say that under the watchful eye of Mr. Tattersfield, Caribou has revived itself from a company in trouble, to a company that has seen 500% growth in its stock price last year alone.

What does he claim is the secret to his success?  Well, among other things, brand evolution.

“Eighty percent of coffee is consumed at the home or office, and we weren’t in that category significantly,” he says. In 2008, when Tattersfield joined the brand, Caribou’s commercial interests were performing well, with its products available at just more than 2,000 stores. “If we really wanted to build the brand, we knew we needed to evolve from a branded retail coffeehouse to a branded coffee company,” Tattersfield says. “That’s one of the key decisions we made as an organization to invest in this and grow it.”

Today, Caribou-brand coffee is available at 7,000 stores, including Costco and Sam’s Club.

What I find interesting is that brands can, and quite possibly should, evolve.  Many marketing gurus suggest that this is nothing but a veiled line extension strategy.