How to live"happ'illy"
Back in June 2023, we teamed up with illy caffè to support their partnership with Taste of London 2023 to immerse visitors in the brand's essence of living "happ'illy."
Here’s what happened…
illy empowers people to live their lives happily, promoting the idea of feeling good about the positive contributions made in the world through consumption choices. Consumer enjoyment of quality coffee is at the heart of everything illy does, so we aimed to thread this narrative through our entire activation approach, leveraging their three core pillars:
Good: Excellence & Quality
The never-ending effort to offer the greatest coffee nature can provide. From bean to cup, their blend represents the quality and authenticity that underpins the very heart of illy.
Goodness: Sustainability & Ethics
Demonstrated by their B-Corp Certification, illy’s sustainable way of living gives us the belief that we can do good and improve our well-being while caring for others and the planet.
Beauty: Art & Italian style
illy’s inherent link to contemporary art provides a beautiful expression of their Italian heritage. The aesthetic pleasure spreads happiness as they harness beauty in their communications.
Our objective was to engage TOL visitors with a passion for high-quality ingredients and a desire to make sustainable choices, encouraging them to experience and purchase illy coffee through a memorable brand partnership.
‘Engaging visitors with a passion for high-quality ingredients and a desire to make sustainable choices’
Our experience was crafted to guide visitors on an immersive journey through illy’s three core pillars. A menu that showcases quality and versatility (good), a collective action for sustainability (goodness), and an aroma discovery experience within a stunning event activation (beauty).
As guests were welcomed to TOL, we made illy front-of-mind as ambassadors handed out tote bags, Cold Brew cans, and map leaflets incentivising them to visit all three key touchpoints to tell the story of illy's good, goodness and beauty. The leaflets also included bounce-back vouchers that entitled guests to £1 off any illy product at Waitrose, Tesco or Sainsbury’s.
As visitors enter the festival, they are immediately drawn to our sculptural 100 square-metre central activation, aligning with our wider festival touchpoints with existing coffee-serving Ape vans. Our stand was the focal point of the activation and took visitors on a curated coffee journey, featuring a versatile, multi-faceted menu of coffee and cocktails, aroma discovery workshops and a 360 terrace with a prime view of the festival, perfect as the evening drew in.
‘Delivering the Università del Caffè’
At our stand, illy offered two discovery based masterclasses led by Part one, Aroma 101, centred around illy’s distinct Arabica blend and its flavour notes. Part two, Coffee Cocktails, explored the art of blending alcohol with coffee into the illy Espresso Martini to enhance the classic offering.
We also welcomed Michelin Green Star chef, Chantelle Nicholson, illy’s newest UK Chef Ambassador, to deliver an exciting programme including talks on coffee aroma and sustainability in hospitality on our terrace, along with a VIP press Q&A session.
Taking centre stage as the exclusive coffee partner for Taste of London 2023
Our curated brand experience unfolded across our main stand, to two coffee-serving on-the-go Ape vans and into the VIP section, serving over 55,000 visitors throughout the event's five-day festival. The illy Espresso Martinis emerged as a standout serve and stole the spotlight, serving as a compelling draw to our terrace during the afternoons, where patrons could savour their cocktails with a 360 view. However, the positive reception was evident for the entire range, particularly the illy Crema which provided a frosted coffee refreshment.
The event saw sales of over 2.5k units across the product range, reflecting the enthusiastic engagement and appreciation for the experience at Taste of London.
At Quantum, we deliver immersive experiences the capture the hearts and minds of consumers.. If you’re looking to create impact with your next experiential partnership, we invite you to connect with us today.
