Revitalizing Barnie’s
Coffee & Tea Co.

Client: Barnie’s Coffee & Tea Co

Sketch of Barnie's Coffee & Tea Storefront.

A legacy of flavor and quality.

Founded in 1980, Barnie’s Coffee & Tea Co. established itself as a pioneer in the coffee industry. Known for its innovative sourcing of high-quality fair trade coffee beans and its signature Santa’s White Christmas blend, Barnie’s was once the largest chain of retail coffee outlets in the nation.
Sidewalk with stenciled event advertisement text.

The Agency-Client
Partnership:

A Synergy of Creativity and Strategy.
Our relationship with Barnie’s commenced with a creative challenge: to increase brand awareness in Orlando, Florida. Leveraging the National Coffee Day official observance, we orchestrated a dynamic campaign culminating in a mock protest at City Hall. This bold move, coupled with extensive media engagement, resulted in over 325,000 media impressions and the establishment of Barnie’s Coffee Day, marking the beginning of our long-term partnership as their agency of record.
Protesters holding signs demanding flavor.
Barnie's CoffeeKitchen logo with steaming cup graphic.

Reimagining Brand Identity Under Jonathan Smiga.

With Jonathan Smiga at the helm, Barnie’s Coffee & Tea Co. embarked on a transformative journey. Our role expanded to encompass a multifaceted branding strategy, including logo design, packaging innovation, and a comprehensive rebranding exercise. The creation of Barnie’s CoffeeKitchen® was a pivotal moment, reflecting Smiga’s vision of coffee as a culinary art. Our team developed a new brand identity, delivering over 200 logo concepts, 28 naming options, and a rich, evocative color palette, ensuring that Barnie’s new direction resonated with consumers and the market.
Coffee slogan and website on textured green background.
Bag of Barnie's Mocha Java whole bean coffee.

Expanding the Brand
Through Strategic Advertising
and Packaging.

Our approach to expanding Barnie’s brand was multifaceted, centering around a strategic blend of advertising and innovative packaging. The creation of the coffee categories – robust, comfort, and intrigue – was a masterstroke in marketing and consumer psychology. These categories were not just about flavor profiles; they were designed to resonate with the consumer’s current or desired mood state.
For example, the ‘comfort’ category was tailored to evoke a sense of warmth and relaxation, ideal for those seeking a soothing cup of coffee. ‘Intrigue’ catered to the adventurous coffee drinkers, offering exotic and unexpected flavor combinations. ‘Robust’ was for those who desired a strong, invigorating coffee experience. This categorization facilitated an emotional connection with consumers, guiding them intuitively towards a coffee choice that matched their mood or the experience they sought.
The packaging design played a critical role in this strategy. Each category was assigned a distinct color palette, subtly guiding consumers through their coffee journey. This visual coding was more than an aesthetic choice; it was a communication tool, conveying the essence of each category at a glance. The design was carried through in-store signage, point-ofpurchase displays, and advertisements, creating a cohesive and immersive brand experience.
Three branded coffee cups on wooden surface.
Colorful coffee packaging lined up on display.

Pronto!: Innovating in
the Instant Coffee Market.

The development of pronto!, Barnie’s new instant coffee sub-brand, was a comprehensive exercise in brand creation and market positioning. We started with the branding, crafting a name and identity that aligned with Barnie’s premium quality while emphasizing convenience and taste. Pronto!, Italian for ‘quick,’ perfectly encapsulated the essence of the product – speedy coffee preparation without compromising on flavor.
The branding extended to every aspect of the product, including the innovative BREWSTICKS®, individual packets of water-soluble coffee concentrate. Each BREWSTICK was designed for ease of use, catering to the on-the-go lifestyle of our target market. The packaging of pronto! was a standout feature, developed with meticulous attention to detail.

A Brand Transformed.

Our journey with Barnie’s Coffee & Tea Co. is a showcase of how strategic advertising, innovative branding, and a deep understanding of market dynamics can rejuvenate and redefine a brand. From a local coffee pioneer to a national leader in specialty coffee, Barnie’s transformation under our guidance reflects the power of creative collaboration and strategic foresight.

Would you like to work with us?

Let’s discuss your current goals and objectives and discover how to best support your needs.

FIND OUT MORE
Contact Us

All SEO work plans include.

  • Website auditing
  • Title tag optimization
  • Meta tags optimization
  • Heading tags optimization
  • Content optimization
  • SEO friendly URL setup
  • Image optimization
  • Fixing front-end and hosting server errors
  • Custom 404 error page setup and optimization
  • Management of temporary and permanent redirection
  • Fix broken internal and outbound links
  • Find and fix HTTP links on HTTPS pages
  • Creation, optimization, and registrations of sitemap.xml
  • Creation and optimization of robots.txt and Googlebot crawls
  • Google Search Console setup configuration, and management
  • Google analytics setup and management
  • Fix HTTPS status issues
  • Mobile site optimization (if applicable)
  • Find and fix orphaned webpages
  • Backlink analysis and disavow entries (one-time in first month)
  • Monthly SEO progress report