Costa Coffee to stream live barista competition on Periscope to push quality message
Costa Coffee is to stream a barista competition live via Periscope as it looks to experiment with alternative ways to communicate the quality of its drinks.
The competition will take place tomorrow (29 September), to coincide with International Coffee Day and will see Costa baristas challenged to perfect the pour of a flat white coffee repeatedly for one hour.
Coffee fans will then be asked to vote for their favourite florette designs either via Twitter or Periscope, after which four baristas working in teams of two will handcraft the design with the most hearts and pour the florette simultaneously. The two Flat Whites will then be displayed and photographed next to each other. Each barista will also take a turn in explaining how they make each design “consistently perfect” to help reinforce Costa’s quality message and create short tutorials that can be used as content after the event.
The competition is being promoted through Costa’s CRM emails and regular Twitter posts linked to the ‘International Coffee Day’ hashtag and has also created its own hashtag #worldcostaday.
Karmarama worked with Costa Coffee as creative agency on the event, which ties in to Costa Coffee's "Beautifully Predictable" campaign about baristas’ ability to pour the perfect coffee.
The coffee company is the latest in a surge of brands turning to live-streaming tools like Periscope as a way of experimenting with video and working out what type of content is likely to be shared. Last week's London Fashion Week, saw brands including Hunter and Burberry tap Persicope to broaden the reach of their shows beyond the fashion industry.