A mysterious turquoise pixel has invaded the social networks of some of the most prominent content creators in our country in recent days. Behind the enigma has turned out to be Nescafé, which has taken advantage of the power of social media and influencer marketing to present a new product aimed at generation Z in Spain.
Nescafé describes Espresso Concentrate as “the first liquid coffee concentrate on the market designed for cold brew coffeeHe assures that this is an innovation designed especially for Generation Z, which stands out for its consumption of cold coffee and its interest in personalizing drinks following viral trends on digital platforms.
Nescafé and the mysterious pixel
And the marketing strategy of the new product has been oriented precisely to that target, which has been worked collaboratively between Nestlé Content Studio, the digital agency Mañana Never Sabe and the media agency WPP OpenMind. To do this, in the first phase of the campaign, it has signed influencers and creators with communities made up of millions of followers, such as Lola Lolita, Nil Ojeda, Juan Beato or Cristian Ventura, all popular among young people and with a strong power of reach and visibility.
Each of them, following their narrative and aesthetic style, has interacted in publications with a turquoise pixel that hid the brand’s new product. The creators have contributed to fueling the mystery by generating expectation around a “big secret.” The result has been days of conversation with hundreds of users trying to guess what and who was behind the “hack.”
The creators’ publications have also been complemented by an outdoor advertising campaign. The posters, also in turquoise, also showed a pixelated product, as well as the phrase “Hack.” They included a QR code that directed to a landing page in which a pixelated square also appeared. When you “scratched” with your finger, a form was revealed to leave contact and receive information.
After days of speculation, Iba Llanos was in charge of introducing the second phase of the campaign. The creator also shared images of the peculiar pixel, leading his followers to wonder if it was a new project or a surprise collaboration for the new edition of La Velada.
In video, Llanos alluded to the mysterious pixelated object, which had already become a viral conversation, and turned to the Spanish hacker Chema Alonso to request his help and discover more about the pixel. He assured him that he was hiding a secret message that invited users to appear on March 25 at 6:30 p.m. on the outside esplanade of Príncipe Pío, in Madrid, where the enigma would finally be revealed.
From networks to a reveal in Madrid
According to the brand, the strategy managed to bring together 1,200 young people at the location, where an event was held to present the product. The streamer, accompanied by other content creators, such as Juan Beato or Cristian Ventura, revealed that the enigmatic turquoise pixel hid the new Nescafé Espresso Concentrate.
To do this, he hacked a giant cube that presided over the center of the square. Ibai Llanos led a countdown and, upon reaching zero, the cube screens began to show images of the turquoise pixel in the viral publications made days before. Then, the cube was opened to discover Mister Jagger and the new product.
“Espresso Concentrate is a coffee created by and for Gen Z. This generation experiences coffee differently“commented Adriel Urban, Marketing Manager for Nescafé at Nestlé Spain. “It is, without a doubt, the most viral launch we have done so far. But, above all, it is the first to be born online and explode on the street. We didn’t want to make a launch, we wanted to create conversation from the first second“.
For his part, Ibai Llanos has valued the expectation created with the strategy and the emotion conveyed with it. “We had been generating hype for days with something as simple as a pixel. Being able to transfer all that emotion to the street, with people experiencing it live and revealing the mystery has been brutal.”commented Ibai Llanos, in a statement from the brand. ““It is a different way of presenting a product that reinvents the way we drink coffee, and much closer to how we consume content today.”.
Espresso Concentrate: coffee for generation Z
The new Nescafé product is a concentrated liquid coffee designed, according to the brand, for a generation that understands coffee as a cold, customizable drink with a social role. Personalization, precisely, is the key to communication, and it invites users to mix it with water, milk or even soft drinks. The product comes in classic, vanilla and caramel flavors, and is sold in 500 ml bottles, with the capacity to prepare up to 16 coffees.
“This generation experiences coffee in a different way: they drink it cold, mix it, personalize it and share it. Espresso Concentrate fits with the way they consume it, often outside the home, and now they can also enjoy it at home in a simple way, creating iced lattes and all kinds of coffee-based combinations like the ones they see and share on social networks..” explained Adriel Urban. “It is a unique and groundbreaking product, and we were clear that we also had to innovate in the way of presenting it to the consumer.“.
