Discover how Blue Bottle got their biggest engagement of the year on social media, went from beans to beats, won the Weeknd, and what opportunities they missed. Get ready for an exclusive behind-the-scenes deep dive as we conduct a comprehensive content audit, paired with our hot take on Blue Bottle’s creative strategy.
We audit and tell
Here’s how Blue Bottle went outside the box into creative excellence when they went from beans to beats and won the Weeknd! Plus what their next steps should be to keep the momentum going.
Winning the Weeknd
If you’re a Blue Bottle Stan you’ll already know their latest reveal: A collab with The Weeknd for their Samra Origins Ethiopian blend.
The creative genius responsible for this collab is Benjamin Brewer. (Could he have a better last name for working at a Coffee Company?)
It’s not just an outstanding business strategy, it directly translates to Blue Bottle’s social media strategy too.
So what happens when a strategic business collab translates into social media? You get a sold-out product launch when you build the anticipation ahead of time with a post that became Blue Bottle’s highest engaged post of the year…
Top Post Of The Year
Blue Bottle’s top Instagram post in a year is “The Countdown Begins” a coming soon post that hints at the big reveal.
10818 likes
236 comments (761% more than their 10th top post in a year)
This post is impacted over ten thousand people to like it for several reasons.
Winning The Weeknd
#1 Creative Insight ⚡️
It’s a classic “Coming Soon Teaser” video with a twist because it hints that “More will be revealed” and that it’s part of something bigger and deeper than we’d typically anticipate from a teaser video. It’s not obvious exactly what is coming soon, so we’re intrigued.
The 17-second format in cinematic visual style elevates the video and offers a captivating and immersive experience.
We’re getting an authentic origin story as we see the red beans growing and a glimpse of their final form: a cup of coffee.
It’s not just the authentic touch, the video highlights the craftsmanship behind the product.
Adding the “Countdown Begins May 3rd” gives the audience a specific date to anchor to and creates a sense of anticipation and excitement. It makes the audience want to stay tuned without saying that.
This video does what all great stories do. It makes us ask: What happens next? We can’t wait for the next installment.
#1 Hot Takeaways ☕️
- Coming Soon Teaser
- More will be revealed…
- Countdown Begins (with date)
Entice and intrigue your audience to ask the most important storytelling question: What happens next?
Most Impressive Style
More posts in the same cinematic theme build the campaign and that’s exactly why the 4th and 8th top-performing post work so well – they’re the same style.
Cinematic Coffee
#2 Creative Insight ⚡️
The Blue Bottle cinematic coffee style is a total scroll-stopper. It’s not just the coffee that’s getting stirred, it’s your emotions too.
From the “More will be revealed” thematic follow-through pan from coffee cup to the coffee drinker who is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye: The Weeknd…
To the poetic Ode to Ethiopia bringing innovation steeped in heritage together…
This post shares the beginning of something brand new but it feels as if it was always meant to be because it pairs the birthplace of coffee together with the birth of Samra Origins.
The whole storytelling package gives us a classic “In the Beginning” story in a poetic, emotionally resonant way. It’s like experiencing a mini-movie in your feed. Instagram is all about curated visuals and it’s obvious why Cinematic Coffee performs so well. Add a Celebrity into the mix, and you have the ultimate complimentary combination.
#2 Hot Takeaways ☕️
- In the Beginning…
- Thematic follow-through from previous posts
- Elevate to a Poetric level
- Stir Emotions
Keep adding more complimentary combinations into your creative strategy – like adding a celebrity collab into the mix
Supporting Posts
Not every post in a new campaign performs as well as the other but they’re great for consistency and to complete the full story.
Coming in the top 10 at position 8 is what we’d call:
Brewing Bliss
#3 Creative Insight ⚡️
Supporting posts emulate the style of the main campaign with visual and story references but are simpler to create. For example, you don’t need a celebrity in every post but they maintain a quality vibe.
#3 Hot Takeaways ☕️
- Support your main campaign with behind-the-scenes posts
- Share your product in everyday use
- Show people interacting and enjoying your product
One of the best parts of an audit is that it shows you what to keep posting and recreating. “Brewing Bliss” is an easy everyday win for Blue Bottle. And it directly relates to their sales strategy for at-home coffee connoisseurs with our next creative insight.
Best Instagram Image
Aside from brewing bliss, another note-worthy post style is what I’d call Coffee Porn but what could be called:
Coffee Portraits
#4 Creative Insight ⚡️
Coffee Shots are among the top-performing posts and this ice-cream drip coffee comes in as the top picture posted in a year.
If it works, keep it working with more of the same.
Our creative insight is that this isn’t just a coffee shot, it’s an OTT (Over The Top) coffee with a novel and unexpected addition you don’t typically see at a Blue Bottle Store and that’s why it works so well.
The huge ice cream scoop, the milky swirls, and the drip… with the minimalist background juxtaposition are what make this picture the best performer of the year.
#4 Hot Takeaways ☕️
- Juxtapose OTT coffee with a minimal background
- Add a novelty element of the unexpected to the at-home coffee shot
Treat the shot like a gorgeous portrait and not just a cup of coffee.
2nd Best Top Reel
Coffee Portraits directly complement this at-home brewing reel, with is also the second-best-performing post in a year.
At Home Brewing with Blue Bottle
#5 Creative Insight ⚡️
People love the idea of brewing their own coffee and having that special Blue Bottle experience right in their own kitchen. It’s all about convenience and personalization, giving followers the tools and tips they need to recreate that Blue Bottle magic at home.
Plus, these posts create a sense of community as people share their own home-brewing techniques and swap ideas. (It’s great for customer-generated content tags and reposts too.)
#5 Hot Takeaways ☕️
- Future posts should include people making their own Blue Bottle coffee at home.
- Repost Customer Generated Content – create a hashtag around it like the popular “dogsatbluebottle”
These posts are a win-win: bringing the Blue Bottle experience to people’s homes and bringing people together.
Missed Opportunities
This beautiful Blue Bottle Storefronts picture performed the best of all the storefront pictures. It’s also the 2nd top picture post and the 5th top post overall in a year.
But Blue Bottle is missing out on a massive opportinity to drive greater engagement and grow their audience.
They ignore all the comments without liking or replying to any of them.
Scroll through the comments to see for yourself why these are opportunities to for growth and the exact insights as to why this post performed so well.
#6 Creative Insight ⚡️
🚩 A red flag miss for Blue Bottle on Social Media is their lack of engagement through responses and replies.
Instagram is not just a community-building app; it serves as a customer service platform, a product research and development tool, and a free content marketing avenue.
By not engaging with comments, tags, or mentions, Blue Bottle is missing out on valuable opportunities:
Interacting with the audience drives engagement, sparks conversations, and can significantly boost the reach and results of top-performing posts.
Video replies to comments should be an essential part of every social media strategy, as they deepen audience relationships, provide customer insights, and fuel content creation.
#6 Hot Takeaways ☕️
- Customer Concerns and Highlights: Responding to comments allows you to address customer concerns, gather feedback, and highlight positive experiences.
- Real-Time Feedback: Engaging with comments provides you with valuable insights into what matters most to your audience, their preferences, and areas for improvement.
- Customer-Generated Content: By acknowledging and interacting with tagged pictures and mentions, Blue Bottle can leverage customer-generated content, boosting brand visibility and authenticity.
- Boosting Reach and Results: Responding to comments and incorporating video replies can drive engagement, expand conversations, and amplify the impact of top-performing posts.
It’s a simple fix to boost engagement on all existing posts.
Giant Steps
(Yes, just like the Blue Bottle Blend)
Getting a complete audit provides the obvious next steps of what to keep doing, what content to recreate (even repost), what to stop doing, and what to do differently.
The key takeaways form the basis for the new content calendar for the next cycle so that Blue Bottle’s account keeps posting inspired content to grow a loyal audience who buys online and in-store.
This post is a sip of the full brew creative strategy for your viewing pleasure. It’s suggestive only.
A Sip of Inspiration
Malva Media is about Creative Excellence and creativity is about combining unexpected elements together. After an audit, we form a data-infused creative strategy for a variety of campaigns.
Then, mini and micro-campaigns get formed under the central campaigns, like these title suggestions that merge Blue Bottle At-Home with The Weeknd Collab:
- Winning the Weeknd
- Savor the Weeknd
- Taste the Weeknd
Time is of the essence: TikTok Audit
Blue Bottle is new on TikTok and already it’s obvious that what works on Instagram doesn’t translate to TikTok. For example, the Cinematic style videos don’t resonate so an audit would give clear creative direction on which strategies to follow to grow the account fast.
Find out how this brand grew 1600% in 5 weeks following a simple Malva Media strategy.
Your Turn
If you loved these insights and want more for yourself, book an audit or creative strategy for:
or
A Comparative Brand Audit (this can be your competitor, an inspirational account, or an account that is complimentary to yours)
You can also combine multiple audits into your creative strategy.
Email lauren@ilovemalva.com to get started.
Brilliant! I love how you’ve structured this. It’s so clear to follow and makes complete sense. Great insights. Blue Bottle: Take note!!
Thanks Natalie! Glad you enjoyed ☕️