Caribou Coffee, Now Starring Jack & Gourdo

Caribou Coffee is rolling out its new Fall Wild drinks with a series of online videos that star two cartoon characters as spokesmen.

Jack & Gourdo, a series of animated videos featuring a talking Jack-o-lantern and gourd, was released by the company in conjunction with ad agency Colle+McVoy. The videos are intended as a light-hearted, fall-inspired promotion for the new seasonal beverages, which include Hot Wild Pumpkin, Wild Pumpkin Cooler, Hot Wild Caramel Apple, and Wild Caramel Apple Cooler.

According to Alfredo Martel, senior vice president of marketing for Caribou, the videos are an attempt to reach younger audiences and to establish a brand identity with them.

“It’s basically the second generation of our digital platform strategy, the first one being Wild it Up,” Martel says, referencing the company’s other Facebook marketing campaign. “We’re now into the second foray of our digital platform, which obviously caters to a young demographic, a demographic that has a lot of information and messages competing for attention.

“We figure that this is a way to create awareness for a brand and show the sort of light-hearted, fun side of Caribou while obviously making the audience aware of our new fall-favorite products.”

Martel says the Jack & Gourdo videos, of which there are so far four, are also a good way to market to new customers through a medium that does not require the money or resources that go into bigger promotional campaigns.

“Digital social networks [and] viral tactics all play an important part of how we communicate with our target audiences and how we become more effective of a communicator in that space,” he says. “It’s not about who has more dollar bills, it’s about who had a creative piece of thinking that was well-articulated [and] well-executed.”

According to Martel, the Jack & Gourdo videos will continue through the fall until the company rolls out its annual Amy’s Blend campaign, which donates money to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure fund that supports the fight against breast cancer.

The Jack & Gourdo videos, which are about 30 seconds long each and mostly include humorous instances of the title characters talking to each while holding Caribou drinks, can be found on YouTube. [9]

By Sam Oches