Jimmy’s Iced Coffee is the UK’s fastest-growing ready-to-drink coffee brand, stocked in 10,000+ stores and delivering £17+ million in annual sales.
The Challenge
FMCG is dominated by global players with deep pockets, shelf power, and marketing machines designed to drown out anything smaller.
The system is built to prevent new brands entering. Jimmy’s challenge wasn’t to mix a better coffee – he’d done that. It was to build momentum strong enough to earn distribution, attention, and a real chance of competing in a heavyweight category.
The Spark
While competitors fought over claims and spend, no one was building real cultural connection. If Jimmy’s was going to win, it clearly wouldn’t be by shouting louder.
It would be by turning customers into fans - people who wanted to wear the brand, share it, and stand behind it.
The Breakthrough
Make the audience the distribution engine.
We embedded the brand inside subcultures - surfers, skaters, BMXers - through grassroots initiatives across the South of England, then created a flagship piece of communication hero-ing those communities. This full-length Dorset-flavoured gangsta-rap video travelled organically through their networks, ensuring Jimmy’s earned its place in the culture.
The Impact
Jimmy’s grew from an independent disruptor into a national brand, securing major UK supermarket distribution and building brand equity the big players couldn’t fake. In the year ending June 2023, retail sales value grew 43% to £17m. In July 2023, Britvic acquired Jimmy’s for £24.9m as part of its expansion into ready-to-drink coffee. But not before we were able to make a second braggadocious rap video.
