How Cothas got Gen Z to smell the coffee

Time of India

6 days ago

In an era dominated by global coffee chains and trendy cafes,
Cothas Coffee Co
, a
legacy coffee brand
celebrating its 75th anniversary faced a delicate challenge. While the brand had to modernise its identity at one end, it had to do so without alienating the loyal customers who swear by their morning brew.
The brand with a deep heritage in South India, embarked on a journey of evolution, not revolution, to appeal to a new generation of coffee drinkers, says Ganesh Ram, founder, Freeflow Ideas, the agency behind the campaign.
While the brand's 75-year history was a significant milestone, it also presented a problem. The company's portfolio of products, including their popular filter coffee, was packaged in a way that was not resonating with younger audiences. The iconic yellow pack, while instantly recognisable to a loyal customer base, seemed outdated.
The brand's products, in fact, didn't even look like they belonged to the same family, creating a fractured identity.
The stakes were high. "You have to do it very delicately and make sure that you don't lose customers... you mess with that and you lose a lot of customers," agreed Ram, while addressing a gathering of
marketing
and advertising professionals at the inaugural edition of Neuron Nights by The Advertising Club, Bangalore.
The Evolution of a Brand
The decision to rebrand was a direct response to a changing market. The younger generation, increasingly exposed to brands like Starbucks and Cafe Coffee Day, was developing a more sophisticated palate for coffee. They were also looking for convenience, with the brand seeing growth in new products like decoction packs and cold coffee.
The company's vision extended beyond filter coffee, its traditional strength. They aimed to expand into specialty coffees and a wider retail chain, with stores already in locations like T2 at the Delhi airport. But that meant it had to account for the fact that the North of India consumed coffee way differently than South India. For example, South India is a filter coffee market, while the North prefers Instant Coffee.
The central question was: how could the brand's identity keep pace with its ambitious expansion?
The rebrand began with a focus on unifying the entire product portfolio. The design team chose an evolutionary approach, keeping some elements while updating others. They drew inspiration from traditional South Indian coffee-making apparatus, incorporating a graphic of the "waft" of steam as a core visual element. The goal was to connect the brand's authentic past with its future.
A key part of the new design was a move away from generic labels like "80:20" or "70:30," which are essentially a description of the coffee:chicory mix but "was not really communicating coffee". The new packaging introduced a "roast meter" to help consumers understand the intensity and profile of the coffee inside. This educational element was a nod to the growing sophistication of the Indian coffee consumer.
Coffee, trophy
The rebrand was not without its risks. The most significant change was to the yellow pack, a "delicate" part of the business that had to be handled with extreme care. The company took a cautious approach, testing the new packaging in select stores. The transition was initially met with some confusion, with one customer noting a change in the color palette and the taste. However, the change has been largely well-received.
Retail store owners, who once relegated less popular products to the back, now proudly display the brand's entire range, a testament to the new packaging's visual appeal, say agency representatives. Laeeq Ali, president, The Ad Club Bangalore, which organised Neuron Nights said, "When brands like Cothas continue to make cultural waves after decades, it shows the enduring power of ideas."
The experience taught valuable lessons about managing legacy rebranding. The key, it seems, is not to lose what has been built, to work collaboratively with the brand's owners, and to have a forward-looking vision. "You have to change," Ganesh said. "If you don't change, you're sitting around and saying, okay, I've done a lot of work."
The rebrand, while a significant undertaking, is seen as a success. It is a reflection of a growing coffee culture in India, where consumers are becoming more discerning about their coffee, its origins, and its characteristics. For this 75-year-old, the future is now just as vibrant as its past.
(This is a report of the proceedings at The Ad Club Bangalore's inaugural Neuron Nights which offered a peek behind the curtains of campaigns, narrated by the minds who crafted them.)