• by Karl Greenberg , June 3, 2009

As the hot weather of summer approaches, 7-Eleven is rolling out iced-coffee machines to 4,500 U.S. stores. The company, which will introduce French Vanilla and Mocha flavors, is also launching a campaign to support the gelid java rollout.

The June ad push comprises radio spots and outdoor, metro rail and bus transit advertising in select markets, as well as online viral marketing and an iced coffee microsite and coupon emails. Point of purchase includes store signage and displays.

The campaign targets 18- to-34-year-old college students and others, who constitute 39% of consumption, and centers on faux romantic conversations between iced-coffee drinkers and their cuppa coffee. "You're more than just a pretty cup," "I've never been this cheap before," and "You have expensive taste" are sample lines. Taglines on printed materials and online ads continue the theme with "I look good in any cup size," "Come and get me" and "Trust me, I'm a handful." The campaign is via Omnicom's FreshWorks.

7-Eleven says the coffees will be the same in all markets except for Long Island, where the product will be stronger and less sweet to meet local taste preferences.

A 7-Eleven spokesperson says the new iced coffees tested well in the New York City area a couple of years ago. "Remember, 7-Eleven was the first retailer to offer coffee to go," she says. "We compete with any retailer or QSR that sells the same products we do in our trade area."

She adds that the focus on younger consumers follows the iced-coffee demographic trend. "Boomers drink more hot coffee; younger people and females more cold and iced coffee," she says.

Said beverage marketing manager Jay Wilkins: "Our iced coffee is value-priced to compete not only with coffeehouses and donut shops but also with bottled coffee drinks."

Harry Balzer, head of industry analysis at NPD, says that while coffee drinking has been declining for years, principally because home consumption has been declining, iced-coffee consumption during breakfast has more than doubled since 2005.

"It is one of the fastest-growing products we have been tracking," says Balzer, who adds that iced coffee is mostly a breakfast item. Balzer says the popularity of iced coffee says less about coffee per se than about American's love of stimulants -- whether they are energy drinks, sodas, or caffeinated drinks.

About 4.6% of all away-from-home breakfast beverage orders are iced coffee, versus 14% for carbonated soft drinks. But away-from-home breakfast consumption of iced coffee has more than doubled since 2005 -- when it constituted only 2% of consumption, per Balzer, who says coffee of all kinds constitutes 40% of all morning beverage orders at restaurants. "It's not nearly as widespread as hot coffee, but it's growing," he says.

Balzer says iced-coffee consumption is likely taking incremental volume from carbonated drinks. In 2005, 16% of all breakfast beverages bought outside the home were carbonated drinks.

And, while he says that 7-Eleven should target younger consumers who begin drinking such beverages at 18, coffee is still an older person's drink. In fact, Starbucks notwithstanding, coffee consumption peaked back in 1946, when coffee was consumed far more often in homes. Currently, he says, 40% of all Americans drink coffee on a regular basis.