The power of a north star - with Bold Bean Co.

Bold Bean Co. is one of the most exciting brands in food & drink right now, having gone from idea to national distribution in a few short years, via an appearance on Dragon’s Den and a bestselling cookbook.  

Guided by a North Star of ‘bean obsessed’ Tomorrow Brands managing partner and The Marketing Society Member Ruth Fittock spoke to Founder & CEO Amelia Christie-Miller about what’s behind their incredible momentum

North Star: ‘bean obsessed’

Bean Obsessed has become more than a tag line for the business, it’s behind everything they do- from their content strategy to their product development, how they talk to how they exist as a culture. It also works because it’s a little playful, people are used to being obsessed with chocolate, but beans!?  Having a North Star that’s mission centred rather than commercial has helped too- they are voice for all beans, not just Bold Beans- it’s something that people feel more engaged with, it’s unlocked amazing PR opportunities too.  

The power of community & loyalty

Bold Bean Co. have a genuine and incredibly engaged community of bean obsessives, created from a genuine desire not to ‘market’ at people but to involve them.  In the early stages they built a community first, and product second, - starting with sharing bean recipes on Instagram and building the brand with that community.   Word of mouth is the marketing dream, they’ve really focussed on building stronger relationships with their loyal customers.  Because loyalty is a key metric for them, it encourages focus throughout the business on ‘obsessed’, every touch point has to be good enough to obsess over.  

No preconceptions

They followed their great marketing instincts, rather than conventional wisdom.  They’ve made out-of-fashion marketing channels like organic social and PR the growth drivers of the brand, until recently they hadn’t done any paid social at all which has really pushed them creatively as a brand- they have to think about what people actually want because that’s how the algorithm is driven, not just pay for the reach.

Go against the ‘normal’ it’s where the magic is

Against all advice, they spent a lot of time and resources in creating their own cookbook, which has become a Sunday Times bestseller and their ‘secret weapon’- a lot of fans of the brand come in through the cookbook rather than the product range.  What has worked for everyone else, won’t be what works for you. A little bit of fear is a good sign, it shows you’re growing. 

Check out the whole episode, here:

Published 8 November 2024