Bear Canyon Coffee
Bear Canyon Coffee is a New Mexico-based coffee brand selling direct-to-consumer, fair, freshly air-roasted coffee. They needed to set up a recognizable brand to broaden their reach—and quadruple their DTC sales in 2023.
There are thousands of specialist coffee brands in the United States. They range from well-known names with national distribution in grocery stores to brands tied to coffeeshops. DTC brands have unique challenges. They need to stand out without the convenience of mass distribution or the connection of a coffeeshop experience.
Self-funded brands like Bear Canyon Coffee need to do it all without pouring a lot of money into marketing. So the owners’ focus is developing unique emotional bond with customers to earn referrals. In-House designed a brand identity that delights customers without breaking the bank.
Branding / Packaging / Illustration & Lettering
Process
We started with market research to pinpoint key purchase contexts, product segments, and customer decision-making. We then mapped their competition and, with the company’s core values as a guide, identified positioning for Bear Canyon Coffee and the market segments to focus on for this phase of growth.
Next, we designed a brand identity system that is a genuine expression of the brand and what it’s about in a way that it will be understood by its audiences and fit with positioning—all while feeling joyful and welcoming.
Results
The basis for the design is Bear Canyon itself – a passage that runs between Albuquerque and the Sandía mountains.
Our design focuses on the symbolism of ritual as a passage. We injected joy by including bright colors, and air-jumping beans. Mainly, the five bears follow the sun to signal that all (chrono)types are welcome. Then, we developed a modular packaging system to work with off-the shelf kraft bags to keep the small businesses’ costs affordable as they grow.
Finally, we extended the system so it can be applied widely. Their initial presence includes social media, the company’s website, and displays on location. But we planned the modular design system so it works for future marketing.
In-House brought in market research and insights on our market and customer base, including different design samples for competitors in our space. The insights and context they brought in helped us understand the market with more depth and make informed decisions not just about brand design, but about pricing and production as well. They were attentive to the path ahead for us as a company, and designed packaging that’s cost effective, modular, but that feels elevated. The packaging and brand system are clear and exactly what we need at this stage to grow. The new brand captures our company culture, values, goals, our passion for coffee and for our local community. They delivered design and packaging that feels ours and truly stand out in the competitive coffee market.
Kevin Ledwith
CEO of Bear Canyon Coffee
