Coffier or Toffier?

Just like the bygone cartoon shows The Simpsons and Loony Tunes evoke nostalgia for every 90s’ kid, Lotte’s iconic Coffy Bite too makes the Gen Y reminisce its favourite toffee option. But a brand can only succeed by staying relevant, and the Gen Z’s awareness of the toffee is nearly zero. Thus, Lotte has come up with a campaign that touches the pain points of the new gen while indulging in a debate about the toffee’s taste.

“We wanted to create an advertisement that appeals to both the sets – capitalising on Gen Y’s brand nostalgia, at the same, making it relevant and meaningful to Gen Z,” says Venkatesh Parthasarathy, VP-marketing, Lotte India. This prompted the company to launch the campaign that revives its old coffee-toffee argument and blends it with the new-age lifestyle.

Called ‘New Coffy Bite; New Argument’, the campaign’s essence is to put the bite back into the toffee by asking the consumers whether it is the rich coffee taste or the soft toffee that makes it so special. “‘Coffee-Toffee' had been milked dry. Our teammate Sudhakar solved the problem beautifully by coining two new words – 'Coffier and Toffier'. The rest was about weaving storylines that led to the argument,” says Anantha Narayan, creative director, 1pointsize.

The campaign comprises four films, each talking about how technology has changed our lives – be it socialising, shopping or watching films. And while the new age brings in convenience, there is no denying the allure of the old. Narayan says that they used this sentiment to craft the core idea: 'Everything has changed...even our good old Coffy Bite’ (softer and juicier with new packaging). “But we made sure our ads conveyed 'change for the better' with the light-hearted banter,” he adds.

For instance, in one film, two girls walk into a theatre, reminiscing the time when watching the ‘first-day-first-show’ of any movie was a big deal. One girl then hands over a Coffy Bite to the other, who exclaims that like everything else, Coffy Bite too has changed. They then get into a debate of whether it is ‘coffier’ or ‘toffier’, neatly referencing to the older ads of the brand. Narayan explains that the innumerable talking heads on news debates and rise of trolling on Twitter gave them the clue that India is ripe for a brand that puts 'argument' back in the center stage. “'The new argument is a continuation of the theme that our previous ads had created, and was much loved in the nineties. We just took the 'argument', mixed it with 'nostalgia', and created a new cocktail,” he says.