Celebrities and cute pets are two of the biggest hitters in marketing and London coffee brand Grind, which has recently opened its fifteenth UK outlet, embraced both in order to reinforce its position in the market.
Firstly, Grind called upon the services of a lookalike – dubbed George Clone-y – to promote its new coffee shop at London’s St Pancras station. The move follows Grind’s takeover of the closing of a key competitor’s store in the very same spot and the celebrity double was in attendance for a welcome party.
At the opening, George Clone-y was spotted picking up competitor pods in an effort to help Grind continue to exhibit its deep commitment to sustainability – he was also spotted taking out the recycling!
To celebrate the brand’s newest location, Grind offered one free coffee to the first 100 customers to visit St. Pancras every day between May 18 and May 23.
Grind CEO David Abrahamovitch said:
“Having just recycled our competitor’s store into a Grind store – one that’s better for the planet – we thought, what better time to have a little fun and introduce the public to George Clone-y.
“Expanding Grind’s retail footprint in the UK – especially in a space as iconic as St Pancras is super exciting for us! We know the space sees loads of commuters and tourists daily so it’s great to be able to serve them great coffee whilst on their journey through London, as well as offer everything they need to make barista-quality coffee themselves, with our at-home range”
This activation marks Grind’s latest poke at coffee giants after launching the UK’s first home-compostable coffee pods. Earlier this year, Grind launched its Better Coffee Foundation to reduce waste from the global coffee industry and committed to remove two coffee pods’ worth of plastic for every one of its compostable pods sold. Grind’s pods are home-compostable and break down in weeks.
In June, those walking around the capital and (more likely) their dogs may have spotted miniature billboards on the streets of London.
Designed as a campaign with ‘tiny impact’ it was all part of Grind’s focus on having a low (or tiny) environmental impact, thanks to the company’s home-compostable coffee pods – the first of their kind in the UK and a sustainable alternative to the billions of plastic and aluminium coffee pods that end up in landfill each year. The campaign was created in partnership with Among Equals, a London-based creative agency.
Placed in locations across the city, near five of Grind cafés, the billboards offered Londoners the chance to win a year’s supply of Grind coffee, plus a Grind One pod machine by taking a picture of one of the billboards and tagging @grind on Instagram and using #Grindminibillboards.
David Abrahamovitch added:
“We’re incredibly proud of the fact that our coffee pods are the first in the UK to be home-compostable and that our customers are able to reduce their coffee carbon footprint by choosing Grind. In addition to making ‘tiny impact’ coffee pods, we are committed to reversing the damage caused by the wider coffee industry.”
Roasting coffee daily in London, Brooklyn and LA, Grind sells tens of millions of pods to customers around the world each year. Grind can be found at members clubs, hotels and restaurants internationally through a global partnership with Soho House, as well as on shelves at retailers including Selfridges and Ocado. Grind has been serving coffee across London hot spots for a decade, in their own cafés and restaurants, having first opened in Shoreditch in 2011.
Find out more about Grind at www.grind.co.uk