MINNEAPOLIS, March 1, 2010 - Caribou Coffee customers in all stores nationwide will notice a new coffee-centric caribou on their cups as they reach for their beverages today. As part of the company’s strategy to enhance its brand position and create new opportunities to engage customers, the 17-year-old brand has undergone a makeover orchestrated by Colle+McVoy, which will roll out during 2010 and into early 2011.

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"The evolution of the Caribou Coffee identity will provide more people with more reasons to feel deeply connected to the brand" said Christine Fruechte, president and CEO, Colle+McVoy. "Whether you’re a customer or an employee, Caribou will be symbolic of living life to its fullest, and that’s rich territory for a brand like this to own."

"As we explored hundreds of iterations of the brand’s central elements, we made sure to stay true to the personality of the company, the vision in which it was founded, as well as the myriad reasons why people love Caribou Coffee," said Mike Caguin, executive creative director, Colle+McVoy.

The new brand look includes a new logo, color palette and design elements that bring fresh energy and broader context to the existing tagline: Life is short. Stay awake for it.® Previously the tagline focused on the benefits of caffeine, but Caribou has now shifted the element from a declarative statement to an opportunity for customer engagement on a more personal level; "stay awake" has grown to signify a "seize the day" attitude.

"We saw an opportunity to better express who we are and what we believe in as a company across all interactions with our customers," said Alfredo Martel, senior vice president of marketing, Caribou Coffee. "The new elements of our brand give us an opportunity to do that and to ask our customers to explore and share what staying awake means in their lives."

Beginning on March 1, the new look will be introduced via in-store elements such as napkins, cups, drink carriers, canteens and signage. A redesigned Web site and extensive out-of-home campaign launch April 1.

Bringing the Brand to Life
Central to this new rebranding, the company’s logo has been adapted to a simpler representation of the brand’s key identification. Most noticeably, the leaping caribou is now a coffee-brown color and in the brand’s playful nature, is assembled out of graphic elements, including a coffee bean at the heart of the animal and "C" shaped antlers. The caribou also now leaps to the right, signifying the company’s vision and movement toward the future.

The shield element in the original logo has been updated to a rich blue color with a new shape that echoes the shape of national park system signage, a nod to the Caribou founders’ hike in Alaska’s Denali National Park where they were inspired to begin the company.

A New Approach to Growth
Since Caribou Coffee CEO Mike Tattersfield’s arrival in August 2008, Caribou has shifted focus away from expansion and toward elevating all aspects of the brand experience to match its world-class coffee. The company’s new strategy has resulted in the most diverse and premium line of offerings since the company opened its first store in 1992.

"Our brand relaunch runs much deeper than the new logo design; it really signifies the evolution of our company. We are passionate about and committed to creating the best cup of coffee possible and an experience that extends beyond our products," said Martel. "We are working to ensure that all aspects of the customer experience are at the same premium level of quality as our coffee."

In November 2009, Caribou unveiled a menu of reformulated chocolate beverages made with all-natural gourmet chocolate from Guittard Chocolate Company of San Francisco. To boost its breakfast platform, the retailer introduced handcrafted oatmeal to its menu in January of this year and has been testing baked in-store pastry items at 25 stores in its home market of Minneapolis.

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 8, 2009 - A wisecracking pumpkin and dimwitted gourd are the stars of a new Colle+McVoy campaign for Caribou Coffee, the second largest company-owned gourmet coffeehouse operator in the United States. The comical characters were created to promote the company’s Flavors of Fall lineup of handcrafted drinks and bakery items.

Breaking today (Sept. 8), the campaign features The Autumn Adventures of Jack & Gourdo in a series of online videos, in-store signage and point-of-purchase elements, which highlight special features of the seasonal offerings through funny and often irreverent conversations between Jack (the pumpkin) and Gourdo (the gourd).

"Jack and Gourdo are meant to be fun ambassadors of fall," said Eric Husband, group creative director, Colle+McVoy. "Caribou Coffee is serious about coffee, but they never take themselves too seriously—they’re not afraid to have some fun. Jack and Gourdo is a great example of this."

Components include five spots of varying lengths breaking today on Caribou Coffee’s YouTube channel, which can be viewed at http://www.JackAndGourdo.com/. Colle+McVoy collaborated with Minneapolis-based Puny Entertainment to develop the video animation.

The campaign promotes Caribou Coffee’s lineup of limited-time-only products, including the drinks Wild Pumpkin, Wild Pumpkin Cooler, Wild Caramel Apple and Wild Caramel Apple Cooler drinks, as well as food items such as Maple Scone, Reduced Fat Cinnamon Bundt Cake and Pumpkin Bread.

Named agency of record for second-largest coffeehouse operator in America

MINNEAPOLIS, February 20, 2009 - Colle+McVoy received a strong shot of new business after being named agency of record for Caribou Coffee, the second-largest company-owned gourmet coffeehouse operator in the United States. The agency was selected after a very competitive and challenging search.

"Colle+McVoy’s approach was very courageous. Their creative ideas pushed our brand in a more innovative direction, which we believe will help differentiate it for today’s customers and future generations," said Caribou Coffee Senior Vice President of Marketing Alfredo Martel. "The team presented a comprehensive strategy to drive growth and create long-term value, as well as actionable solutions for our immediate needs."

"We have been given an amazing opportunity to help Caribou Coffee become the leading gourmet coffee brand in the world," said Christine Fruechte, president and CEO, Colle+McVoy. "Every idea we create needs to be engaging and tell the brand’s memorable story through groundbreaking programs." Colle+McVoy ended 2008 with revenues at an eight-year high, driven, in part, by high-profile assignments from ESPN, Yahoo! Messenger, Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation, and Manhattan Toy Company, to name a few.

Colle+McVoy will share in the brand strategy and planning, as well as manage the day-to-day execution of all marketing campaigns for Caribou Coffee, including brand identity, package design, interactive, advertising and promotions. The scope includes consumer marketing via all channels (trade, retail and online). Program budgets have not been finalized.

MINNEAPOLIS, April 1, 2010 - Minneapolis-based advertising agency Colle+McVoy advances to meet the ever-evolving needs of the agency and its growth attributed to clients such as Caribou Coffee, Purina and the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation with the announcement today of six new hires:

Lisa Holzemer has been hired as a senior interactive producer. Previously, Holzemer was a producer at MRM Worldwide and Martin Williams.

Ben Clymer has been hired as an interactive designer. Clymer recently worked at Preston Kelly on various accounts, including HealthPartners, Roundy’s, Taco John’s and Grand Casino.

Fabien Dodard has been hired as a junior art director. Dodard previously worked at Boulder, Colo. based Crispin Porter + Bogusky and for a Haiti-based ad agency for five years.

Jenny Kirmis has been hired as a junior copywriter. Kirmis is a recent graduate of the Miami Ad School.

Brice Hemmer has been hired as a junior interactive designer/developer. Hemmer has interned at Poplife and Complt Design Studio.

Tom Ferrara, a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota, has been hired as an interactive developer.

"The sum of new hires adds significantly to our existing deep pool of talent within the creative group and will simply provide more expertise for our clients," said Mike Caguin, executive creative director, Colle+McVoy.

Photos available upon request.