News

Get a taste for Van Houtte advertising

Montreal, October 1st, 2009 – Van Houtte (www.vanhoutte.com) just launched its new TV ad campaign, starring various customers loyal to the brand. Created by the Montreal agency Génération (www.generationmultimedia.com), the campaign features four executions produced in a “slice of life” style that consumers can relate to.

“It was a real challenge for our agency,” says Sylvain Toutant, President of Van Houtte. “We had to simultaneously develop an impactful advertising campaign for both our networks: retail sale and cafés-bistros.”

Génération designed a transferable creative platform with a powerful element common to both networks – the glasses and moustache in the logo of Albert-Louis Van Houtte, founder of the renowned coffee company. Interestingly, the Van Houtte logo ranked second in a survey carried out in Quebec on the most popular logos, right behind the Canadiens de Montréal. “So it was a natural choice to highlight this remarkable visual signature of a personality unique to Van Houtte, complete with glasses and moustache,” says Benoit L'Archevêque, President and Creative Head at Génération.

“As well as the distinctive visual, we developed a slogan for all our messages, which defines the brand’s personality,” adds Mr. L’Archevêque. “Clients spontaneously say, “Que du Van Houtte” (Only Van Houtte) with a French accent when people ask which coffee they prefer. We went for a solution that would connect all of Van Houtte’s products, across all executions.”

“In a highly competitive market, we need to position our brand distinctly; our European roots are the foundations for a truly unique personality,” underlines Alain Racicot, Marketing Director of Van Houtte Café-bistros. The concepts developed by Génération take place during consumption (grocery store, home and café-bistro) to maximize product recognition and benefits (happiness, social interaction and enjoyment). Furthermore, the consumer is showed the places where you can buy Van Houtte products. The four messages have a common “Van Houtte” look to reinforce brand image.

About Génération

Generation offers integrated communication services through its divisions Génération-Pub and Génération-Clik Multimédia. Its experienced team functions in an environment where new technologies and traditional advertising tools operate side by side. This polyvalent team is capable of realizing any type of project, whether it involves consultation or strategic marketing, creation, production, promotion, public relations or Web design for clients in Canada and the United States. 

About Van Houtte

Founded in 1919, Van Houtte is a leading North American roaster, marketer and distributor of gourmet coffees. Today, Van Houtte brings together three complementary areas of expertise: the coffee break, the roasting, marketing and distribution of gourmet coffee, as well as the manufacturing of single-cup brewing equipment. Thanks to these advantages, it offers North American consumers unique concepts combining gourmet coffee, cutting-edge technology and service expertise, whether they’re at home, at work or at a café-bistro.

Credits

ANNOUNCER:

Alain Racicot, Marketing Director, Van Houtte Café-bistros
Lyne Ménard, Product Manager and Retail Marketing, Van Houtte

AGENCY:

Génération

CREATIVE TEAM:

Benoit L'Archevêque, President and Creative Head
Pierre Gagnon, Partner, Vice-President, Strategy
Alexandre Daneau, Account Manager
Éric Langlois, Art Director
Christian Letendre, Copywriter

PRODUCTION HOUSE:

Génération

DIRECTOR:

Mathieu Dorion

SOUND STUDIO:

Sonart

SPECIAL EFFECTS:

Fly Studio

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Source:

Alain Racicot
Marketing Director
Van Houtte S.E.C., Cafés-bistros
Tel.: 514-593-7722, ext 2361
Email: aracicot@vanhoutte.com