Iris Worldwide brews up new win in China with Costa Coffee

Costa Coffee is seeking to energise its brand as it competes against market leader Starbucks, which opened its first outlet in China in 1998. Costa Coffee only entered the Chinese market in 2007 via a joint venture with the Yueda Group, based in Jiangsu.

During the year-long appointment, Iris will be responsible for developing and strategising integrated marketing campaign toolkits, producing above-the-line and activation ideas and localising the global brand DNA for the China market.

“We want to help our client build ‘cultures’ around their brand, and Costa Coffee is in a great position to lead the coffee category,” said Luke Nathans, the agency's APAC regional development director.

The company is planning to open 100 new coffee stores in China this year as it races to build affinity with a potential universe of 200 million new coffee drinkers. In fact, according to Andy Harrison, chief executive officer of Costa Coffee parent company Whitbread, China will have around 2,500 coffee chain stores by 2018, and Costa Coffee hopes to account for one third of that total.

The chain operates mainly in first-tier cities, with most stores located close to an existing branch of Starbucks. Starbucks is already pushing into smaller third- and fourth-tier cities.

Data from Euromonitor International show the mainland's coffee chain market is forecast to surge 55 per cent from last year to 2015, reaching US$714 million (4.5 billion yuan).

This newest addition to Iris' client portfolio in China comes after its recent Reebok win, where the agency has launched the Reebok RealFlex shoe across three major Chinese cities: Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.