Campaign: Coffee against loneliness

In 2009, OgilvyAction created a cause-related marketing campaign to promote Denmark’s leading coffee brand, Gevalia, and raise awareness of the Red Cross’ visiting service for lonely people.

For almost 30 years Gevalia’s advertising has revolved around their slogan ‘Which coffee do you offer unexpected guests?’ Building on this famous slogan, OgilvyAction launched a print campaign in major newspapers and magazines highlighting that not everyone has the joy of unexpected visitors and encouraging people to volunteer as Red Cross visitors. Kraft donated 1 DKK to the Red Cross for each of the 500,000 promotional packs of Gevalia sold.

The agency also organised events at shopping centres and large supermarkets where customers were invited to enjoy a cup of coffee as Red Cross volunteers distributed material about the work they do.

The campaign helped to raise awareness about loneliness and sparked debate about the issues on television, radio and newspapers all over Denmark. Besides increasing sales of Gevalia, more than 1,500 people signed up to become new visiting friends.