BIG SHIFTS SERIES with Samantha Siegal, CMO at Death Wish Coffee

1. What are CULTURAL shifts that you see emerge over the next 24 months?

FROM: Sticking to a plan at all cost 
TO: Being nimble and agile around a north star

“It’s increasingly important to have a strong understanding of your North Star. This applies to individuals, brands, companies. The only guarantee is that the world will change around us in unexpected ways. Knowing what you stand for in the face of these shifts is critical for determining how you are going to pivot – or stay the course when the time inevitably comes.” 

FROM: Passive storytelling
TO: More emotional / personalized story telling

“The need (and opportunity) for authentic, at times vulnerable storytelling, has never been greater or more appreciated. We see this with brands, celebrity, and content broadly. In a world where connection is currency, sharing more of ourselves is increasingly the way we connect with others.”

2. What are CATEGORY shifts that you see emerge in COFFEE?

FROM: Morning cup ritual
TO: Meaningfully own a place across day parts (e.g. pre workout, social occasions)

“As in other categories, coffee is at a moment where we have the license to think beyond its place in history as the morning cup. With every day now containing multitudes (the workday, the post-work workout, childcare, home life, evening work, social occasions), there is a role for the emotional and functional benefits of coffee across an increasing array of dayparts. This opportunity is further impacted by the blurring of category lines we’ve long seen in other social beverages (water, soda, juice), increasing desires for clean energy, and expansion beyond alcohol as the go-to social beverage.”

FROM: Terroir
TO: Emotional and Experiential

“The ‘third wave’ of coffee was all about the beans – sourcing, origin, brew methodology. Without a doubt, people are still in pursuit of quality and great taste, but we are seeing a much greater primacy placed on the drinker and how coffee makes them feel (physically and emotionally), with product attributes as an enabler vs the end in and of itself."

3. What are CONSUMER shifts that you see emerge in COFFEE?

FROM: Function vs taste 
TO: Function AND taste

“Consumers increasingly expect food and beverage offerings to do double duty, offering both great taste and a value-add experience. While there are certainly situations where great taste alone is enough (particularly when it comes to indulgence), for everyday offerings, people are looking for options that work as hard as they do without delivering a negative taste experience.”

4. How are MARKETING PRACTICES going to evolve to adjust to these shifts?

FROM: Telling
TO: Talking

“We’ve always said that marketing is a form of storytelling. While this remains emphatically true, the passive story has shifted into a two-way dialogue. As marketers, it is our privilege and responsibility to build brands and processes that make space for this engagement and the iterative work it inherently requires of us. We also must think expansively about where these dialogues take place. Absolutely social media, but direct discussion, democratized survey access, and 1P data are laden with incredible power.”