International Delight Wants to Free Pumpkin Spice from the Rules of Pumpkin Spice Season

International Delight, the sales leader in the coffee creamer category in Canada, makes a bold move to launch their most popular seasonal flavour this year. For Pumpkin Spice season in 2022, International Delight seeks to capitalise on the insight that Millennials and gen z, growth target audiences for International Delight, are driving a demand for Pumpkin Spice earlier every year.

International delight believes that these people are right. Pumpkin Spice is a flavour, not a season; something to be enjoyed, not gatekept, and that is a cause worth rallying around. And rally they did.

Launching an activation in the height of summer, International brought Pumpkin Spice to the streets of Toronto to give people what they want, Pumpkin Spice flavour, without the rules they expect. What rules? International Delight marketing director, Alexandra Latendresse says “International Delight lets consumers set pumpkin spice free from the rules of the season like when it’s available, how much it costs, where you can get it and how much you should have. We’re here to give Canadians more flavour, more often for much less”.

The activation placed an International Delight Pumpkin Spice reamer dispenser in the middle of downtown Toronto surrounded by coffee shops weeks before they would have Pumpkin Spice lattes available. In an act of defiance, customers lined up to have their daily coffees enhanced with the flavour they’ve been craving but were told they couldn’t have. Each sample also gave customers 'more spice for less bucks' a cheeky coupon approach that drove to the store shelf where International Delight was ready to be enjoyed before the hype of the season.

“There are so many expectations around pumpkin spice season that it’s hard to do something original. This idea was the perfect opportunity for us to satisfy a real customer demand while we had the stage all to ourselves. As the category leader, we’re excited to be able to be the brand that brings consumers what they want and we’re excited to see how the category reacts”, said Alexandra.

The activation kicks off a campaign that will run until October.