Caffe Luxxe

Background
Caffe Luxxe
Successfully established in Los Angeles with six locations, Caffe Luxxe is responsible for introducing LA to the artisanal coffee movement in the early aughts. While they had plenty of elements working well for them when we first met, it was clear they needed help crafting both internal and consumer-facing messaging for strong positioning cohesion. One of their primary stumbling blocks was confusion about how to convey the Italian and European influences that inspire their work without looking like they’re trying to be an Italian company.
The Work
I first identified a huge opportunity to help them embody the confidence of a well-scaled brand. I also knew that strong key messaging was needed to define the brand. This meant elevating their story with more evocative and sensory-based language, and evolving their identity from founder-focused to a brand standing confidently on its own.
Like many businesses I work with, the owners and their team had created a distinctive brand experience, but without the granular exploration to define the layered nuance of their personality, tone, and manner. With an eye toward making their onboarding, training process, caffe experience, and merchandising approach easier behind the scenes, we decided to create a comprehensive Brand Book to help do a lot of that internal heavy lifting.
Concretely articulating their brand traits, defining their bold hero color as a fundamental aspect of their personality (A Sunny Disposition), clearly communicating their values and philosophy, and telling their updated story, the book provides their team with guidance on how to embody the brand across touchpoints – from in store and packaging, to website and social.
We then moved into a soft-launch of the repositioning and story by polishing their primary website pages (to prepare for a complete redesign), as well as naming for their newest product – the world’s very first Coffee Kombucha. Hello, healthy buzz!
Sample Copy
The beauty of European tradition, made in Los Angeles
Caffe Luxxe began with a richly drawn espresso, enjoyed one fine Italian morning while on holiday. From first sip, we began dreaming of traveling the world to source inspiration for our own neighborhood caffes.
Some of the luxuries you enjoy here start thousands of miles away, on small family-run farms where our commitment to sustainable and ethical business practices directly improves the quality of life for our partners.
From gestures large to small, we give our guests ample reasons and ways to feel good. We do this because we understand the great responsibility we hold for making your very first interaction of the day a positive one. We hope to delight you with the power of simple pleasures and the joy of unexpected discoveries. Most of all, we want to become the necessary daily indulgence that feeds your senses and uplifts your spirits.
Caffe Luxxe – LA’s original artisan coffee
Est. 2006
My Services
+ POSITIONING
+ BRAND BOOK
+ BRAND STORY
+ MESSAGING
+ WEBSITE COPY
+ PRODUCT NAMING
Year:
2022-2023
TESTIMONIALS
Lovely Words
Have you ever worked with a person and everything just feels perfectly right? That’s what it’s like working with Sarah. I appreciate her highly collaborative approach and active listening skills, along with her confident ability to take the lead as a strategic guide for the entire development process.
The amount of effort that goes in is what comes out, and rest assured there is a lot of care and thoughtful attention to detail when you work with Sarah.
Gary Chau
Caffe Luxxe Co-founder & Creative Director