Tim Hortons Great Coffee Conversation
Creative Direction, strategy, digital design, video editing.
A first of its kind; using social to further connect customers and increase loyalty, with iterations of contact at every touchpoint.
The people who choose Tim Hortons have stories and connections so deeply rooted in the brand, that their lives are literally intertwined.
At the time, four out of five coffees sold in Canada were sold at Tim Hortons. The Canadian brand team wanted to protect their reputation while also elevating their coffee leadership position and in tandem, continue to increase customer loyalty.
One caveat: The budget was limited, and using channels outside of television and mass print was strongly encouraged.
THE ASK
In 2007 I was solo fishing in a canoe on Silent Lake, Ontario at around 5:30 am. The surface of the water was glass, with the mist being burned off slowly by the rising sun. A haunting call from a loon who wanted to make sure I knew I wasn’t the only one fishing that morning, made the experience nearly perfect.
But I didn’t have a coffee… and that would have made things 100%. I paddled slowly back to shore, loaded my canoe onto the truck and drove 40 minutes or so to Bancroft, where I pulled into the Tim Hortons and made my morning perfect.
I’ve told this story more times than I can remember, and I’m not the only one with a Tim Hortons story. Canadians love talking about their coffee.
THE INSIGHT
Sports Moms and Dads everywhere will tell you which town they have to play in, and how far it is to get “their Timmies” before the game. Every road-trip starts with a box of Timbits and some coffees, every construction site stops when the takeout tray arrives. It doesn’t matter if it’s Toronto, Cape Breton or Moncton; people know they can count on their coffee and treats tasting the same wherever they stop.
Tim Hortons and Canada go hand-in-hand, and the goal was to make people notice and understand the lengths that they go to to get their special treat. By driving engagement amongst consumers about the coffee, engaging in conversations about the consistency of the coffee and their connection to the coffee, our audience shares their stories and they become part of the care and consistency narrative.
It’s not just emotion or patriotism or a commonality we all have, it’s actually a great cup of coffee and that’s something worth talking about.
THE STRATEGY
Why do you love Tim Hortons?
The Tim Hortons Coffee Project: A cross-Canada exploration of why Canadians love their Tims.
A study to engage consumers in answering a perennial pop-culture question while igniting the realization of how important the brand is to them.
THE IDEA
No host or celebrity face, just a film crew with a list of questions about Tim Hortons
Alberta
Red Deer
Innisfail
Airdrie
Nova Scotia
Halifax
Bedford
Dartmouth
Québec
Ville de Québec
Beauport
New York State
Amherst
Wheatfield
Ontario
Hamilton
Burlington
Sponsored ads also pushed to the brands Facebook page.
Travelling from coast to (nearly) coast and a few stops below the border to support the new American stores, we set to the task of editing and client approvals.
The end result netted out with 30 videos, While the core messaging was consistent, the stories varied. From regulars to people passing through, staff to couples, on-site and off-site, we began to see the story of peoples relationship with Tim Hortons really come to life.
CROSS CANADA CONTENT
Each video was released weekly with traffic driven by interactive banner support online.
Video based and rich-media banners played in numerous locations online.
ONLINE SUPPORT
The last frame of the rich-media banners held on a question. When interacted with, related info was displayed as the end screen, with a push to Facebook (this interaction also allowed for data collection)
Interesting note: The timestamp on the carafe was never more than 20 minutes off of the computer clock.
Personalized email blasts and in-store DMB made connections with the audience and invited them to the Tim Hortons Facebook page to engage in the coffee conversation further.
EMAIL AND IN-STORE
Video based banner
With the 30 Great Canadian Coffee Conversation videos, a brand-first YouTube account was created and branded for both Canada and the US properties, then populated weekly with the video content.
At the time, Facebook did not support video internally, however the YouTube content was leveraged in that platform.
YOUTUBE
There was a time when Facebook was a brands friend, and the level of interaction an audience would participate in was astounding by today’s measure.
From Email to DMB, banners to YouTube, all avenues pushed people to the Tim Hortons Facebook page.
Customers were actively engaged weekly with videos and interactive updates on Tim Hortons Facebook page via an infographic interface.