• by Fern Siegel , Yesterday

Wake up and smell the variety!

Flavor 52 is a yearlong campaign featuring Java Factory’s 52 new coffee flavors launched over 52 consecutive weeks.

The rollout is promoted via social media, the #FlavorFriday campaign, influencer partnerships, experiential marketing efforts, and licensing collaborations with personalities and brands such as Danny Trejo, Klondike and Tootsie Pops.

Creative is by Cool Nerds Marketing, teamed with in-house efforts. 

The weekly drop becomes the marketing event. Scarcity is not a supply-chain problem. Scarcity is the strategy, Sam Blaney, executive vice president, Two Rivers Coffee Company, parent of Java Factory, told Agency Daily.

“Flavored coffee drinkers are inherently more open to experimentation and discovery. There is also a significant entertainment influence in the structure of Flavor52. The program consists of 52 flavored coffees organized into six themed seasons, each with a beginning, middle and end. Every season has a finale. Every flavor reveal acts as a plot twist,” he said.

Flavor categories include Throwback Collection, Ice Cream Truck, Sweater Weather, Wild Ones, Just Desserts and The Finale. The creation is part of the company’s collaboration with Flavor & Fragrance Specialties.

“Social media fundamentally changed the customer relationship. Consumers now expect to participate in the story of a product rather than simply receive information about it. They want to be part of the discovery,” Blaney said. “We're giving consumers a story to follow, not just a product to buy.”

That participation means a live leaderboard updates community scores in real time. Flavor Friday creates a weekly ritual where subscribers brew the same flavor on the same day. The Flavor Graveyard allows consumers to vote on which flavors earn a permanent place in the portfolio.

Java Factory is also working with Guinness WorldRecords to certify a title for the most unique coffee flavors launched by a coffee brand within a single year.

Cool Nerds Marketing’s roster includes Campbell’s, Oreo and Fuji Water.