Nescafe targets Starbucks

Nescafe is launching a countrywide offensive in the US  targetting the instant-coffee market, using smart advertising to make consumers aware of the price difference and quality.

To counter Starbucks' Via instant coffee in Chicago and Seattle, Nescafe has launched an outdoor campaign in both cities through McCann Erickson, Los Angeles.

One of the outdoors ad says,  "Starbucks makes great instant. We make great instant. So why does theirs cost 400 per cent more?" The last line to the multipanel ad proclaims Nescafe's Taster's Choice as "the smart choice."

The style, copy and even typeface strongly resemble advertising for the Starbucks brand and Starbucks Via.

Nescafe doesn't stop there - it has also taken the battle online. TastersChoice.com asserts that "Good coffee is not expensive." It offers a budget calculator and free samples and, borrowing from DDB Seattle's "UnSnobby Coffee" (built for McDonald's McCafe launch in Starbucks' hometown), urges consumers to stage a "coffee intervention."

With recession, these ads have become increasingly common. And they're likely to continue, as a number of the advertisers running with comparative campaigns have also reported subsequent sales increases.

Starbucks isn't preparing a response to Nescafe, yet.