With 11 locations in the US and 21 locations globally, Think Coffee has been the quintessential New York coffee shop since 2006. The brand has continued to push industry boundaries in terms, reducing environmental impact and ensuring the most responsibly sourced coffee possible. In early 2021, CEO and founder, Jason Scherr, approached ROOK for a partnership aimed at translating core company values from the café space to a future-launching retail goods expansion. 

The partnership between Think Coffee and ROOK began with a focus on elevating Think’s coffee packaging for retail expansion. With the initial creative brief underway, conversations about broader strategy and messaging efforts started bringing Think Coffee’s full brand identity and portfolio into question. The strength of Think’s mission automatically sets the brand apart from its competitors. Where most companies place their ethical credibility on certifications, Think Coffee chooses to go directly to the source, crafting their supply chain around the farmers and producers’ themselves. On top of honest, transparent pricing and deep connections with their suppliers, Think Coffee implements location-specific, often life-changing, projects in the communities they impact, such as increasing clean water access in Santa Isabel, Nicaragua. By taking direct action (and not relying on 3rd party certifications), Think Coffee grows the communities that grow their coffee.

In order to develop the brand’s humble status, ROOK had to develop Think Coffee’s living identity as well, combining the personality and emotion of their NYC roots with the mission-driven passion of the company’s ethos. By leveraging the brand’s strong existing equities, such as their color palette, name, and values, the priority of the partnership was able to shift towards more challenging layers of the branding, like clear communication, tone of voice, in-store design, and brand messaging. Co Founder and Managing Partner, Rebecca Thomas Christou recalls that, “Think Coffee’s identity and packaging design wasn’t doing the brand justice. Our job was to help elevate and modernize without losing the brand's soul that has been nurtured since Think Coffee’s inception.” 

On-pack, the mission statement ‘Project Common Good’ logo rests atop a mural of the work, communities, investments, and celebrations within Think’s integrated network. Using every area of the packaging was important to tell the full story and impact the coffee has on its community, both globally (by detailing the benefitted project) and locally (by listing the NYC locations).

With the partnership between ROOK and Think Coffee developing beyond branded materials, the team at ROOK began to examine store signage, messaging, and consistent flow. Think cafes pride their warm inclusivity and attractiveness to all, and ROOK wanted that emotion to be clearly communicated across all in-store assets. For community members that have grown into repeat customers, the “reuse, swap, or stay” program will allow for a 50 cent discount for using a reusable cup, a concept that has been important to Scherr for the majority of the company’s existence. Store signage will soon be consistent across all New York stores, with options for “coffee drinkers” and “not coffee drinkers.”  The customized lowercase font used in the logo is visible across menus and store signage.  ROOK applied this font across the brand for its welcoming and slightly quirky presence. Other layers of the logo are visible upon closer look, such as the intentionally moved dot from the ‘i’ into a period at the end of ‘Think Coffee.’ This period helps drive the mission driven sentiment of the brand and asks the customer to consider more when they ‘sip/ swap. bite. stay.’ 

The depth of the creative partnership was also important to ROOK as an agency. Founder and Creative Partner, Mark Christou notes that “At ROOK, we’re always looking for, and have been fortunate to partner with, clients that are driven to challenge the status quo that not only benefit local communities, but also global communities.” 

Think Coffee’s updated brand identity and product portfolio has begun rolling out across all their cafes and packaged goods (available both online and in stores). 

SERVICES

BRAND STRATEGY /BRAND IDENTITY / PACKAGING DESIGN / TONE OF VOICE / COPYWRITING /  CREATIVE DIRECTION / ART DIRECTION / PRODUCTION / STORE DESIGN / MERCHANDISING / CONTENT CREATION