Cotti Suzhou embroidery campaign: Key takeaways
- Cotti has paired its autumn osmanthus drinks with Suzhou embroidery motifs, collectables and a campaign film
- Craft demonstrations and an in-store embroidery follow
- The campaign associates Cotti with skilled craftsmanship, but does it demonstrate equivalent care in its coffee production?
Cotti Coffee (库迪咖啡) has launched into traditional imagery for an autumn campaign. Its collaborator is a second-time partner, China Arts and Crafts (中国工艺). The launch pairs an osmanthus drinks range with packaging printed with traditional Suzhou embroidery.
Collectables and a film about the craft come alongside osmanthus flower decorations on cups. Paper bags feature lotus flowers, paired birds and red maple leaves. Coasters and reversible fridge magnets make up the merch that gives the collaboration legs once the packaging is used up.
The campaign film follows Zhao Hongyu (赵红育), a nationally recognised master of Suzhou embroidery
The campaign film follows Zhao Hongyu (赵红育), a nationally recognised master of Suzhou embroidery. We see her at work from conceptual drawing to stitching. Zhao’s has put 53 years into the craft and it’s impressive what she can do. That skill gives Cotti’s craftsmanship message a real, human grounding.
There’s one final element to this. At Cotti’s Suzhou Museum store, customers could try embroidery themselves. Zhao attended an event there where Cotti’s collaboration drinks were available to taste alongside the activity. There’s just one question looming over all of this…
The Dao view: Can borrowed craftsmanship build coffee credibility?
Craftsmanship is a theme that gets used a lot by Chinese brands. It becomes interesting when a brand shows why it’s relevant to them. Here, the thread splitting and careful stitches give a broad advertising claim something specific to associate with. Cotti is hoping that craft will influence how customers perceive its coffee.
The cultural association could make an autumn launch more memorable. The craft could influence how we perceive Cotti’s value. But its credibility has a limit. Viewers have seen evidence of 53 years of human endeavour, the peak of an embroiderer’s skill. Making the same case for Cotti’s coffee might be a bit of a leap. Should we have seen images of the craftsmanship behind their bean roasting?
