Costa Coffee launches debut TV ad campaign

Costa Coffee is ramping up its marketing battle with rival Starbucks by launching its first TV campaign.

The ad, which will break tomorrow (Thursday), will focus on the quality of service offered at Costa outlets, compared with rival chains.

It plays on the 'infinite monkey theorem', which suggests that a monkey with a typewriter would eventually produce the complete works of William Shakespeare.

The ad, created by Karmarama, features monkeys trying to create the perfect coffee, in an attempt to prove the superiority of Costa's products.

The campaign will also include press ads featuring bold headlines claiming that the brand is on a mission to save the world from mediocre coffee.

The initiative is the latest example of Costa's aggressive marketing tactics against its rivals under the stewardship of marketing director Jim Slater. In 2009, Whitbread-owned  Costa launched its first national marketing campaign, which uncompromisingly targeted Starbucks.

The ad, also created by Karmarama, claimed 'seven out of 10 coffee lovers prefer Costa'. One execution carried the line: 'Sorry Starbucks, the people have voted'.

Starbucks lodged a complaint about the ad, but the ASA deemed it acceptable following lengthy deliberation.

Despite knocking the quality of its rivals, Slater denied Costa's latest campaign is an overt attack on Starbucks. 

'Independent surveys consistently show that coffee-lovers prefer Costa, and this TV commercial will help us explain why,' he said. 'There is a lot of momentum behind the Costa brand at the moment, so we thought it was the right time to take advantage of this with our first TV ad.'

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