JDE (Jacobs Douwe Egberts)

The project

Jacobs Douwe Egberts is a Dutch privately owned company that owns numerous beverage brands (coffee, cola, tea and hot chocolate). It was formed in 2012 by merging the coffee division of Mondelez International with Douwe Egberts.

The Challenge

Based on the vision that everyone deserves the coffee he or she loves, Jacobs Douwe Egberts has been the champion of coffee democracy for more than 266 years. A coffee for every cup is the promise. Today, JDE’s coffee and tea portfolio is available in more than 143 countries. However, every country has its own dynamics and market opportunities. That is why JDE engaged COOKS to help with moving from an international consumer study approach to a country and customer relevant category vision.

The Solution

A well-validated vision was developed by combining the results of the international study with insights into Dutch shopper behavior as well as the wishes & pain points of retailers in the Netherlands. This vision was translated into a convincing trade story with a clear structure and a good balance between objectivity and commerciality. The sparring sessions with JDE ensured that the new vision was broadly supported, sharpened and relevant for all.

But vision cannot be successful if it does not translate into successful action in the shopping environment and all “points of shopper contact”. That’s why we described specific opportunities for each growth driver; we also provided concrete guidance on how to respond/activate these opportunities. In addition, COOKS guided JDE personnel on how to use and work with the new vision.

After developing a category plan for the total segment of coffee and tea, a vision per segment was desired. Relevant figures and insights of each segment were mapped, and opportunities and challenges were visualized in a manner that made them concrete.

The category vision was then translated into a shelf vision to help the shopper find the perfect cup of coffee even better. Shopper interviews helped to formulate a perfect step-by-step plan for the perfect shelf composition and the best way to confront shoppers with the categories of coffee and tea … both on existing shop floors of today, but also in the supermarket of the future.

The Result

The customer-specific vision we created resulted in clear instructions for the operational marketing and sales plans. We equipped JDE with impactful visualizations and infographics that became the new style guide and included many surprising and innovative elements. In short: a magnificent case of applied creative thinking.