As Starbucks spread across the country, people began to see the stores as their "third place"—besides home or work—and to trust the brand for quality and distinction. This growing brand equity gave license to branch out into product categories that complemented the core experience.
Starbucks called on Heckler Associates to consult on the positioning of brand extensions and to design distinctive packaging and in-store promotional pieces to introduce them to customers.
Starbucks began to open stores at a rapid clip in the 90s. It was important that they quickly assimilated into the local community and became part of people's daily routine. With each introduction to a new market, Starbucks developed a special mug, T-shirt and apron or hat for the partners to pay homage to that new city. During this period of expansion, Heckler Associates designed the "city" graphics for many of the new market introductions, including Las Vegas, Dallas, Baltimore, San Antonio and Philadelphia.
As Starbucks retail stores spread across the country, people began to see the stores as the "third place"—a space, other than home or work, where it was easy and fun to gather with friends and family or grab some alone time in an engaging atmosphere. People started to recognize and trust the brand for quality and distinction, and they embraced the Starbucks lifestyle. The company's growing brand equity gave license to branch out into product categories that were complementary to the core coffee, tea and pastries, and home-brewing equipment.
Starbucks saw an opportunity when they realized that customers were regularly requesting the playlist for the music mixes they heard in the stores. They worked with Blue Note Records to produce a jazz CD of store favorites. The CD would be sold in the coffee shops along with Blue Note Blend coffee beans. Heckler Associates designed the cover of this first CD, the Blue Note Blend packaging, a T-shirt and the in-store promotional materials to support the introduction. Sales were outstanding. This was the first step for Starbucks now-famous role in the entertainment business.
The company also created packaged goods to enjoy at home, including the Fontana brand of flavor syrups, Infusia tea, plus a line of baked-good mixes, jams and biscotti confections. We created original art and design for all of these labels and packages to signal the product quality and style that was unique to the Starbucks brand.
Even with an accelerated schedule of store openings around the country, Starbucks recognized the great potential for offering their products in grocery stores to reach a much broader audience with added customer convenience. After the great success of the Frappuccino blended beverages in-store, Starbucks partnered with PepsiCo to introduce a bottled version in the grocery store. We developed packaging that carried the Starbucks quality message and brand mystique into this new channel. Swirling shapes and colors from the Italian flag introduced new customers to the Starbucks signature blended coffee beverage. The initial market test was wildly successful with sales 10 times above expectations and a large majority of customers responding that they would buy the beverage again. Pepsico and Starbucks committed to more bottling facilities and sales continued to climb dramatically.
Another successful partnership paired Starbucks coffee with Dreyer's Ice Cream to create what instantly became America's favorite coffee ice cream. Heckler Associates created a completely new and unique graphic system for the coffee ice cream flavors that placed the Starbucks logo front and center on the package. In order to break through a crowded category, we used original illustrations with playful, bold lines and fun, bright colors to grab attention in the grocery store freezer. The new ice cream definitely got noticed. Just three months following its introduction in April 1996, it became the top-selling super-premium coffee ice cream. Starbucks ice cream won the American Marketing Association's Best Product introduction of 1996 in the ice-cream category. Encouraged by the product's great success, the company also introduced low-fat versions and ice cream bars. We created a packaging system that could easily accommodate all of these product additions.
Coffee and beer are another natural pairing. Starbucks worked with our client RedHook Beer to create Double Black Stout, a delicious dark beer. We named this new product and created the co-branded packaging, balancing the voice of both companies' identities on the label.