Creating unmissable collaborations: Lavazza x BBC
The “Coffee Changemakers” campaign celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Fondazione Lavazza by highlighting 20 unsung heroes in the coffee industry. In collaboration with BBC StoryWorks and facilitated by RTL AdAlliance, Lavazza created an animated video and illustrations by Sofie Birkin to share these inspiring stories.
This initiative is part of Lavazza’s “Blend for Better (B4B)” journey, emphasizing sustainability and community support. We are proud to see how this collaboration has flourished, which is why we created this interview. By showcasing diverse roles within the coffee supply chain, the campaign invites audiences to appreciate the impact behind every cup.
Could you provide an overview of the campaign, including its context and significance?
Lavazza:
The campaign’s aim is to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Fondazione Lavazza through the stories of 20 unsung heroes who have made a positive impact in the world of coffee.
Thanks to the illustrated style of Sofie Birkin, we partnered with BBC StoryWorks to create an animated video and a series of illustrations that came to life on Lavazza's and BBC StoryWorks’ social channels, as well as on a dedicated landing page. This page provides an in-depth look at the history and the profound connection our protagonists share with the Foundation.
This partnership is part of our “Blend for Better (B4B)” journey, which celebrates the Group's commitment towards people and nature. This year, it held even greater significance due to the important anniversary we celebrated with the entire Lavazza group.
What is the primary goal of this campaign, and what overarching value does it aim to convey?
Lavazza:
The goal of this campaign was to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Fondazione Lavazza and its impactful project all around the world, showing how the Foundation was created to support coffee-producing communities globally through economic, social, and environmental sustainability education projects.
To achieve this, we’ve found 20 different people, with different backgrounds and roles, proving that it’s not just the baristas making our coffee, but also the farmers harvesting beans, educators training future coffee-growers, and the professionals collaborating with organisations to improve coffee-farming practices.
This campaign allows us to deep dive into 20 years of Lavazza Foundation’s commitment, giving voice to all the incredible people who work tirelessly every day to change things concretely.
BBC:
BBC StoryWorks is proud to have partnered with Lavazza to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Lavazza Foundation by creating Coffee Changemakers - a spotlight on 20 influential figures in the coffee industry. This campaign featured beautifully illustrated individual profiles on a captivating digital page, complemented by an animated film that vividly told the story of the Lavazza Foundation’s longstanding impact on people's lives and businesses.
Can you elaborate on your collaboration? When and where was the idea born, and what role did RTL AdAlliance play in facilitating this partnership?
BBC:
The partnership began with introductions at the RTL Beach in Cannes, followed by further discussions later in the year in Turin. It was a perfect collaboration between two heritage brands, bonded by shared values of trust and authenticity.
Lavazza:
It was an almost year-long journey, from sharing and refining the brief to its final development with the publication of the content on our properties and on BBC StoryWorks properties.
We were looking for a partner capable of delivering and conveying such an important message to the target we want to reach; RTL AdAlliance has helped us to have a full picture and a focus on the final KPIs.
In what ways do Lavazza and BBC complement each other in this collaboration? What values and impacts were you looking forward to when partnering?
Lavazza:
The aim of the partnership was to convey such an important message without being self- celebratory. We wanted to entertain while sharing the positive stories behind Lavazza Foundation.
This was a work resulting from constant and daily collaboration which over the course of approximately 7/8 months, led to the creation of empowering content capable of celebrating a very important milestone for us, highlighting stories that are not widely known.
BBC brought its editorial and creative expertise to the table, making it the perfect partner to discuss the Foundation’s 20-year commitment to people and nature in both an in-depth and engaging way. Sofie Birkin's illustrations delivered a lighthearted yet impactful message.
We also leveraged the expertise of our media team to ensure that the campaign had a strong presence in our markets and reached as many people as possible, with established and precise KPIs.
BBC:
The campaign has launched in key European markets and Australia, and early results show it is resonating with BBC audiences, surpassing performance benchmarks.
We look forward to continuing this collaboration between BBC, Lavazza, and RTL, and taking the Lavazza story even further.
Now that the campaign has already started, how are the results looking? Are you happy with the audience's response to the campaign?
Lavazza:
We are very pleased with the first results of this campaign.
While numbers are always important, we are also receiving positive feedback from the Lavazza communities across social and digital touchpoints.
We believe this is an essential achievement, when people give you back their enthusiasm, their joy, their passion.