Why Chamberlain Coffee Works (It’s Not Just Because of Emma)

In this episode of Full Fat Marketing, Leonora breaks down how Chamberlain Coffee turned coffee into a lifestyle product by making it more approachable, desirable, and culturally relevant.

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Disclaimer: Insights shared are based on Leonora’s experience with food and hospitality brands and are for educational purposes only. Results may vary.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I've decided that this is Coffee Week on the podcast. The thing is, a lot of coffee brands feel like they were built by people who own three tote bags and a superiority complex. Especially now, people have become so snobby about coffee, it is borderline a joke. There is so much like dark packaging, notes of cocoa, aggressively serious branding, and an energy that suggests if you do not understand the beans, you're not emotionally evolved enough to be there. I mean, it's ridiculous. And then Emma Chamberlain came along and made coffee feel really cute, current, and actually fun again. Chamberlain Coffee was not just Emma Chamberlain launched it as a new product, it was taking a category that feels weirdly snobby and almost a touch masculine and rebuilds it for a younger, internet-obsessed audience that wants coffee to feel like part of a lifestyle. And honestly, it's genius. I'm Lenora and this is the Full Fat Marketing Podcast, where you'll hear the uncomfortable strategy truths for FMB brands that most people won't tell you, but I will. A little bit on Emma herself, as if she's my pal. She is a YouTuber. She started off on YouTube, that's how she found her fame. And ever since then, she's now done all sorts of different things and she's become a celebrity in her own right. Now, whether you personally watch her or watched her in the past or not, she's become incredibly influential in shaping a very specific kind of internet culture. She made things feel really effortless, slightly chaotic, self-aware, really aesthetically cool without trying too hard. She did not feel like the old school influencer archetype. She felt more like the internet, slightly sleep-deprived cool girl. And to be honest, there aren't many of them anymore. And coffee was already a huge part of that identity. Coffee was not random for her. It was already in like her vlogs, routines, the visuals, I mean her entire vibe. She loves coffee. So when she launched Chamberlain Coffee a few years back, it did not feel, oh, she she's monetizing this. It felt more like, yeah, okay, like obviously she's gonna be launching a coffee brand. And the thing is, she made coffee feel less intimidating and way more desirable as well. Coffee as a category can be weirdly inaccessible, especially if you're new to it. There is a lot of like jargon, snobbery, over seriousness, as I mentioned, and also like, I don't know why. Like, there's always like, not that this is a strange name, but let's just say someone named Luca explaining acidity. I mean, it's a bit odd, and for a lot of younger consumers, it's just not appealing. Now, Emma did the opposite. She made coffee feel like approachable, playful, aesthetically enjoyable, and emotionally easy to get into. She did not try to win by being the most expert coffee brand out there. She won by making coffee feel like more culturally inviting. A lot of brands are still trying to sell categories based on authority, when often the bigger opportunity is making the category feel like really easy, fresh, fun, more aligned, and how people actually want to live as well. That is exactly what Chamberlain Coffee did. She was actually so clever with the products as well. And this is where a lot of the magic is. I've never bought Chamberlain Coffee before, but I've heard amazing things. And when I first, when she first launched the brand and I went on the website, I honestly, I can't tell you, it was like a breath of fresh air. I was like, this is what this category needs, like the coffee category specifically. And this is the part I think people underestimate as well. It didn't just look cool, the actual products choices were really smart as well. You can see it in things like cold brew bags, flavored coffee such as like salted caramel, fluffy lamb vanilla, careless cat blend, early bird blend. It's almost as if you can match the type of coffee blend to your current personality or mood. She also sells things like matches such as vanilla matcha, honey matcha, and these flavors change based on like seasonality or limited edition drops. She also sells really cute drink wear and accessories and products that felt really like my nice little corner of the internet coded. As a result, those products become easy to buy, easy to try, easy to gift, easy to speak about. She was not building a brand for people who want to spend 45 minutes talking about, you know, the extraction methods of coffee. She was building a brand for people who want coffee to feel like part of a vibe, which honestly is a much more commercially interesting take as well. And she turned coffee into a desirable lifestyle product, too, not just something you drink. This is a huge reason why it worked. It feels like something that belongs in your kitchen, your desk setup, your morning routine. It just makes you happy. And that is enough to create that desire and pull for customers to buy the product. Because it quickly becomes part of how someone wants their life to feel instead of just something they use every day. Honestly, that is what a lot of food and drink brands still do not fully understand. They're still selling the product like the customer's only buying taste, quality, practicality. They're not. When often what they're actually buying is the role the product plays in their life. And Chamberlain Coffee understood that really, really well. And the thing is, the brand actually had a point of view which already puts it ahead of so many founder brands as well. This is another thing it got right. Chamberlain Coffee did not just rely on Emma's face and hope for the best. The brand actually had personality, recognizable design, a playful visual world, a tone, a rhythm, and a clear feeling around it. So many creative brands fail because they are just basically merch with ambition. And people feel that, right? They see straight through it nowadays. But Chamberlain Coffee actually felt like a proper brand from the get-go. It had enough identity, coherence, and product world alignment to stand on its own two feet. When you think of it just now, you probably have the association of her because of the name, but when you go on the website, there is very, very little reference to her. She's on like one or two photos, and that's about it. And this is really important for influenters because if an influencer founder FB brand only works when the founder is actually standing right next to it, it's usually not built strong enough. This one is. So if you're a founder, creator, or marketer listening to this, the practical takeaway of this episode is this. Ask yourself, have we made our category feel more inviting? Have we built around how people actually want to experience the product now? What is happening on social media? What are people making content about and how can your product fit into that? And I know so many people think, oh, we don't start start a brand for social media, and you shouldn't. But social media is such a huge part of our life now that you do need to see and think how will that fit into? Because obviously, social media is a fantastic way to get the brand's name out there as well without it being paid. I mean, organically, having people want to use your brand and put it in their videos without being asked to is such a massive thing. Does your brand immerse people in the world? And have we made this product desirable enough? These are the key things to ask yourself. Clever brands like Chamberlain Coffee do this so well because they understand mood, identity, taste, behavior, and cultural relevance. And that is where a lot of the real power is now. So, no, Chamberlain Coffee did not work just because Emma Chamberlain is famous. It worked because the brand was actually really clever about it. It's not just selling coffee or matcha, it's selling a whole different way to experience it. And that's the Full Fat version. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, you can listen to Full Fat Marketing Podcast wherever you get your podcasts, with new bite sized episodes releasing daily from Monday to Friday. You can thank me later for that. Oh, and if you're enjoying the podcast, I'd really love it if you left a rating and review, as it really helps more people find it. See you next week.