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From a shopper's point of view, coffee can be as complicated as wine to shop. Both of these categories represent shopping adventures for the knowledgeable consumer and intimidation to most everyone else. Part of the challenge is that there are so many different variables and varieties to select from, making it a hard category for shoppers to navigate quickly.

Having spent part of my career doing shopper marketing for a premium coffee manufacturer, the new brand and packaging design from Seattle's Best caught my eye. One of the biggest challenges in the coffee aisle is the vast variety of offerings (brands, roasts, flavors, etc) do not enable quick selection for shoppers; unless a shopper knows exactly what they are looking for, the coffee aisle requires time.

In such a category, the vast majority of competitors take a very similar approach to categorizing their blends and flavors. With this new redesign, Seattle's Best took a completely different direction. Although I do not have the exact shopper insights from their research that led to this approach, it is obvious their focus was on simplifying down a complex set of decision points to enable easier deselection and selection. 

This is a great example of what shopper marketing should ultimately deliver for brands: insights that are actionable and lead to a relevant, shopper-centric approach to the the shelf and the store.