Bear Canyon Coffee is an upstart 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, ranging from well-known names with national distribution in grocery stores to brands tied to coffeeshops. DTC brands have to stand out without mass distribution / convenience or the immersive experience and vibe offered by coffeeshops with their own brands to drive sales. Self-funded brands like Bear Canyon Coffee need to do it all without pouring a lot of money into marketing. 

To be viable as a business, Bear Canyon Coffee has to earn word of mouth business and develop a unique emotional bond with customers. 

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.

The basis for the design is Bear Canyon itself - a passage that runs between Albuquerque and the Sandía mountains. 

We focused on the symbolism of ritual as a passage, and injected joy by including bright colors, air-jumping beans, and a set of bears in different times of the day to signal all (chrono)types are welcome. We also 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 to social media, the company’s website, displays on location, and 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."