L’OR Coffee Launches Premium Secret Podcast Experience

Premium coffee brand L’OR, part of Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE), is launching the ‘Secret Podcast Experience’ with Acast, giving an exclusive opportunity for consumers to share a coffee with their favourite podcasters at an intimate live podcast recording.

‘The Secret Podcast Experience’, developed and brokered by Havas Media UK (part of Havas Media Group UK), offers an audience of coffee lovers the chance to attend a series of three live recordings of Acast’s most prominent podcasts. During the recordings, attendees will hear the podcast host talk with special celebrity guests, as well as get to taste an array of L’OR coffee-themed food and drink all set in an intimate ornate setting. The episodes will then be available on usual podcast platforms.

Launched by the world's largest pureplay coffee and tea company JDE in France in 1992, and arriving in the UK in 2017, L’OR was launched to cater for the growing demand for premium coffee at home. This campaign has been created to generate engagement and drive association with the L’OR brand around its premium coffee ranges, as well as timing with the launch of L’OR’s new home coffee machine in partnership with Phillips. The L’OR Barista Sublime hit shelves in September. 

The podcast series kicked off with White Wine Question Time, hosted by British journalist and broadcaster Kate Thornton, along with special guest and celebrity Masterchef winner Lisa Snowdon. The first show saw them replace the usual three glasses of wine with three L’OR coffee themed cocktails, in keeping with the theme of the podcast.

Others will follow in October and November, but because they are a secret there are no further details until around ten days beforehand. The branded events are accessed exclusively by podcast fans registering interest through a microsite. As part of the campaign, Havas Media UK have launched and will run L’OR’s social media channels, including Instagram, using some content created by Acast to drive traffic to the microsite.

Havas Media UK has worked with L’OR since January 2021. Together with sister agency Havas Entertainment, Havas Media UK brokered the exclusive partnership between Acast and L’OR, a first for any coffee brand to have developed such a deep partnership with Acast.

Havas Entertainment’s JUMP division also served as the lead agency, coordinating stakeholders and overseeing both the media partnership and the on-site experiential elements of the campaign.

Chris Marshall, digital marketing and media lead UK/I, JDE, “Increasingly consumers are looking for a more premium coffee experience at home, a coffee they can savour and spend time with. Acast’s podcasts are the perfect partner for L’OR, bringing immersive content & conversation together with our delicious coffee. Our coffee artists take the time to create beauty and masterpiece in every sip of L’OR, which is why we have been keen to connect with guests and podcasters considered masters in their own field across the campaign. We are very excited to see where we can take this new partnership going forward.”

Julia Nicholls, managing partner, Havas Media UK, “Riding off the wave of increased podcast listenership over the past three years is the easy bit but turning it into an unforgettable media experience is where a brand can drive differentiation and consideration in a competitive market. That’s why we’re bringing the mystery of live podcast events to the artistry of coffee and harnessing premium storytelling moments to turn the coffee routine into an unmissable experience.”