Nescafé combined caffeine and content and celebrated International Coffee Day on October 1 by inviting its legion of java enthusiasts around the globe to upload a video of themselves enjoying their morning joe.

The “Good Morning World” campaign invited people to post selfie-style shots of themselves enjoying their morning brew while Nescafé’s social managers compiled the best content in a celebratory coffee “mug chain.” And for every video that was uploaded, the Nestlé-owned food industry giant distributed a coffee plantlet to a farmer around the world.

screen-shot-2016-10-10-at-11-45-09-am

“Nescafé is all about creating real connections—connections that matter,” Michael Chrisment, Nescafé global head of integrated marketing, told [a]listdaily shortly after the livestream concluded. “We wanted to celebrate International Coffee Day by helping coffee lovers around the world connect over a morning cup of coffee. Livestreaming was the perfect way to bring people together in an innovative, and very real way. When you wake up, you grab your phone and a coffee. Nescafé and social media go hand-in-hand, which is why Facebook livestream was a great way to reach our fans.”

Chrisment says the livestream—which was also live on YouTube and Periscope—was a perfect fit for Nescafé’s on-going mobile-first REDvolution, which is a unified global look and feel across all their products in 180 markets worldwide.

“It’s also about continuously looking for new and exciting ways to help mobile-loving young fans to start new connections,” he says.

The world’s first instant coffee and the fifth most valuable food and drink brand is keen on connecting youth with their caffeine in the name of content creation. It’s how people communicate, Chrisment says, and as a brand, they want to be relevant to the world that young people live in.

With over 35 million fans on Facebook, Chrisment said that the platform is naturally a major part of their multi-channel digital strategy—further evidenced by 360-degree video—and they are allocating their marketing budgets accordingly.

nescafe-dolce-gusto-will-i-am-1

Earlier this month, Nescafé Dolce Gusto also launched the “Creativity Reinvents The Classics” campaign with Grammy Award winning musician will.i.am, where the artist took over the Facebook page for 48 hours.

Another way Nescafé is reinventing the coffee category is through their Tumblr-powered website, a portal where people who love their coffee can upload and share their own content. Nescafé was the first global brand to move their entire website to Tumblr last year.

It’s all part of a strategy that shuns direct marketing for a social-first approach. The rebranding exercise was also complemented by a logo redesign, too.

“Our ambition is to shape the new world of coffee,” says Chrisment. “We believe some of the key trends driving the coffee category today are authenticity, personalization, new experiences and digital. We want to remain the world’s favorite coffee today and tomorrow, so digital and social are key ways for us to connect with people around the world.” 

Follow Manouk Akopyan on Twitter @Manouk_Akopyan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onDr5DV07SI