Digital Strategy Costa Coffee

This project focused on developing a digital advertising campaign for Costa Coffee aimed at re-engaging their diverse customer base, including active users (40 %), lapsed users who had not ordered in four months (30 %), and inactive users who were registered but had never made a purchase (30 %).As part of a collaborative group, I helped craft an integrated strategy across social media platforms and kiosks with a strong focus on understanding and addressing the needs of the consumer.

Costa Coffee
Introduction and Context
The UK coffee market has overtaken tea as the nation's favourite hot drink, with over 98 million cups consumed daily, reflecting its deep cultural and economic significance (British Coffee Association, 2023). As consumers’ expectations around quality, speed, and innovation increase, companies must stay competitive. Costa is recognised for their signature coffee, consistent quality and welcoming atmosphere. It is one of the UK’s most beloved coffee brands, leading this transformation by focusing on digital convenience, emotional engagement, and personalisation, making it a significant player in the global coffee market. As a result, they have built customer loyalty through driving brand strength and support, allowing for growth in a competitive market, from brands like Starbucks, Pret a Manger, McDonald's, Caffè Nero, and Greggs, with evolving consumer preferences. Self-order kiosks have emerged as a potential solution, offering customers increased control over their orders, reduced wait times, and access to personalised promotions while enhancing order accuracy and efficiency. Using kiosks can be prompted to add complementary items to their drink orders, such as a pastry with a coffee or a snack with a cold drink, which could potentially lead to a higher transaction value.
This campaign proposal introduces a concept: “Your Mood. Your Brew. In Seconds.” The aim is to re-engage high-value, time-sensitive customers, particularly professionals in the finance sector aged 29–40 years old, with a campaign that transforms coffee into a fast, personalised ritual that reflects their daily emotions and busy lifestyle. By combining kiosks, emotional storytelling, and a rewards-driven scheme, Costa can address key consumer pain points such as long wait times, lack of personalisation, and repetitive in-store experiences. Ultimately, the campaign seeks to increase loyalty, app engagement, and in-store sales while reinforcing Costa’s reputation as an accessible yet emotionally resonant brand.
Key Research
Costa has built a strong emotional connection with its customers by offering high-quality coffee blends and creating inviting spaces. These loyal customers appreciate the consistent experience that Costa delivers, making it their go-to coffee destination. Therefore, they can retain and satisfy their customers reflects their dedication to quality and service. This devotion strengthens its brand and drives growth in the highly competitive coffeehouse industry.

Using kiosks in coffee shops helps with the speed and convenience, especially during peak hours, enabling customers to skip human servers and customise orders precisely without feeling rushed. Consumers are likely to customise their drinks more, as most UK customers still prefer classics like lattes or cappuccinos, over a third (36.4%) now customise their drinks, especially with milk alternatives like oat milk (the most popular at 31.4%) (Costa,2018). This self-service approach minimises errors and enhances accessibility through multi-language support, benefiting both local customers and tourists. While kiosks address common customer frustrations like time wasted queuing and social anxiety, and concerns about miscommunication for complex or dietary-specific orders. Consumers are twice as likely to personalise drinks via ordering screens, suggesting that the absence of perceived judgment fosters greater experimentation. This rise in customisation, including a demand for sensory and textural experiences like cold foam and Bubble Frappes, helps major coffee chains like Costa to remain relevant to evolving socio-economic changes by offering tailored experiences and fostering customer connection.

Perception map
The UK coffee Market is highly competitive with other major coffee chains and independent coffee shops looking for customers.
Consumers may be increasingly price-conscious due to economic pressures impacting demand for premium coffee. With consumers increasingly personalised experiences due to economic pressures impacting the demand for premium coffee or wanting alternative beverage options, Costa Coffee needs to adapt and innovate to stay competitive.





Figure 1 (Author 2025)
McDonalds is the only brand that has kiosks and the rest of the competitors don’t. Therefore, they are competing either for coffee or they serve coffee and have kiosks as well. Having kiosk could mean that they are being associated with fast food brands.
Campaigns, Goals and Objectives
This campaign targets finance professionals by delivering a coffee experience that aligns with their fast-paced, high-pressure lifestyles. The goal is to offer speed, efficiency and convenience through self-order kiosks, app-based pre-payment, and personalisation options. These customers value high-quality, consistent drinks tailored to their tastes and needs, along with digital rewards and recognition for frequent visits. The campaign aims to create a professional, calming in-store environment ideal for quick meetings or focused breaks. By blending technology, wellness, and premium service, Costa seeks to drive loyalty, increase engagement, and become the go-to brand for time-sensitive, success-driven professionals.


Figure 2 (Author 2025)
This specifically targets the priorities and habits of finance professionals, a high-value group recognised for being time-constrained, results-oriented, and tech-savvy. This SMART goal is a good fit for Costa Coffee. Costa capitalises on the efficiency and personalisation that this audience anticipates from their everyday routines by concentrating on boosting app engagement and order frequency. Using digital tools like app analytics and targeted social media campaigns, Costa can monitor performance and stay aligned with the media habits of finance professionals, who frequently engage with content on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. This strategy also strengthens Costa's standing as a tech-forward, emotionally conscious company that provides value without compromising speed aspects that appeal greatly to this market. This objective involves both immediate involvement and loyalty, making it a strategic decision by Costa to strengthen relationships with clients who have substantial wealth and demand high-quality service with minimal hassle.
Objective campaign framework


Figure 3 (Author 2025)
This campaign objective is important for Costa as it helps attract finance consumers and an efficiency-driven audience by promoting the convenience of digital ordering and personalised rewards. Increasing awareness of these features can boost customer engagement, drive repeat purchases, and position Costa as a modern, tech-forward brand. Ultimately, it supports customer retention and strengthens Costa’s competitive edge in a fast-paced market. ( See Appendix 2 for more information.)
Target Audience
Our target market consists of finance professionals between the ages of 29 and 40, who are in a stage of life where their lifestyle, financial security, and career advancement all coincide. They enjoy fine dining, cultural events and premium coffee lifestyles that align with Costa's brand and have high disposable income. They appreciate quick, easy, and effective coffee experiences because they work in hectic, high-pressure settings. They appreciate quality and a contemporary setting, and their well-established careers give them significant purchasing power. These experts are active on podcasts, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. They use coffee as a social connector and productivity tool while participating in networking, fitness, and cultural events. They are perfect for Costa's customised, tech-enhanced campaign, "Your Mood. Your Brew. In Seconds," because of qualities like ambition, efficiency, and analytical thinking. Their familiarity with technology makes it easier to interact with Costa's marketing and loyalty initiatives, establishing them as their preferred location for meetings, leisure activities, and breaks.

Figure 4 – Customer persona (Author 2025)
The Big Idea
Our big idea is called “Your Mood Your Brew in Seconds”. Coffee is transformed into a sentimental, customised ritual by this campaign. Through the Costa app, users can choose their mood, such as "Late but optimistic" or "Quietly winning," and when they scan a QR code at self-service kiosks, they will receive a customised cup sleeve. Double Coffee Beans encourage return visits, and these sleeves encourage self-expression and connection.

The #QuickCheerUpWithCosta challenge on Instagram and TikTok encourages users to share how Costa coffee improves their mood, carrying on the tradition online. Weekly winners increase engagement and emotional loyalty by receiving exclusive Costa figurines and hidden drinks.

The app unlocks limited-edition beverages, such as the "Silent Night Latte," with winter-themed designs during the holiday season. To re-engage lapsed users and make Costa a more significant aspect of daily life, the strategy combines technology, narrative, and emotional branding.

Testing and Key Metrics
Category
Details
Budget (£)
App Development and Personalization
Affective customization, QR code integration, seasonal themes and double bean points.
70,000
Personalized Sleeve Production
Custom cup sleeves with emotional labels (design, printing, distribution).
50,000
UGC and Social Media Marketing
Hashtag challenge promotion, sponsored posts, influencer collaborations.
60,000
In-Store Signage
Interactive kiosk interfaces.
30,000
Holiday Theme Production
Seasonal app transformations, exclusive festive drink branding, and limited-edition cup designs.
40,000
Rewards and Prizes
Hidden festive drink rewards and exclusive merchandise.
25,000
Analytics and Data Tracking
Emotional engagement monitoring, user behaviour analysis.
10,000
Miscellaneous
Contingency fund, last-minute creative adjustments.
15,000
Total


300,000

This budget prioritises personalisation and emotional connection, aligning with the target audience’s desire for meaningful, shareable experiences. It also allocates significant resources to social media amplification and app development, ensuring a seamless digital-to-physical journey.
Conclusion
Costa Coffee, a strong UK brand, must adapt to evolving consumer needs, particularly time-constrained finance professionals. The "Your Mood. Your Brew. In Seconds." campaign directly addresses this by offering a fast, digitally convenient, and emotionally personalized coffee experience through app integrations and self-order kiosks. This strategy aims to re-engage lapsed users and enhance loyalty by delivering a memorable, seamless experience. Ultimately, the campaign reinforces Costa's competitive edge and repositions it as a forward-thinking, emotionally intelligent brand that meets modern consumer demands for personalization and convenience in daily coffee rituals.
References
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Working through the full campaign cycle from initial research and planning to execution and evaluation using industry frameworks, audience engagement tactics and performance metrics. This experience strengthened my ability to blend creative thinking with data-driven strategy, and highlighted the importance of collaboration in delivering campaigns that are both impactful and measurable.