Inside Nespresso’s dual-ambassador strategy

Dua Lipa may have recently gotten married, but Callum Turner isn’t her only partner in life.

This spring, coffee brand Nespresso announced the pop star as its newest global brand ambassador, a role that had previously been exclusive to actor George Clooney, who has been working with the brand since 2006.

Nespresso launched its “Vertuo World” campaign with Lipa in April, and since then, she’s hosted a Nespresso event at the Cannes Film Festival and helped the brand market a pickle-infused iced coffee inspired by her viral Diet Coke concoction with pickle and jalapeño juice.

The Lipa-fronted campaign marks a 30%–40% increase in brand campaign spend and is one of Nespressos largest investments to date. The effort has so far put the brand on the map in ways that even its team didn’t expect, with record landing-page views from new prospects, Jessica Padula, VP of marketing at Nespresso, told us.

“We haven’t had that type of launch moment of a new brand ambassador ever, right? Not really since George,” she told us. “Getting those eyeballs translated to traffic onsite was a really big focus for us, and we’ve seen some big successes there.”

As Nespresso seeks to boost its cultural cachet, it’s also celebrating its 40-year history, giving the brand an opportunity to celebrate its past while also forging ahead into the future. We spoke with Padula about how its multipronged ambassador strategy is aimed at achieving both goals.

Dua(l) ambassadors

The combo of Lipa and Clooney is intended to help usher Nespresso into its next chapter, embracing newer offerings like iced coffee while still honoring the brand’s legacy as an espresso brand, Padula said. Just because “Vertuo World” is more colorful and features a pop star doesn’t mean it’s singularly targeting Gen Z, Padula said. Instead, the duo was brought together for multigenerational appeal.

“We wanted to incorporate a new face to try to address the evolution of the cultural space of coffee and the role that it plays,” Padula said. “[Lipa] is the girl about town, she’s everywhere that culture is happening. She’s also really into food and culture and travel, where coffee really has a natural role to play.”

The hero video in the “Vertuo World” campaign shows Lipa trying different Nespresso beverages that transport her to various locales, ranging from a lake to a jungle to a lavender field. Finally, she crosses paths with Clooney, who cheekily stakes his claim on the brand’s tagline, “What else?”

“[Clooney’s] always said it as almost a way of expressing the superiority of Nespresso quality…‘What could be this good?’” Padula said. “The way he and Dua interject their playfulness around it allows us to explain without being so prescriptive that ‘What else?’ is now an invitation for you to join us and explore with us.”

Nespresso has paired Clooney with other younger faces in recent years, including actors Simone Ashley and Julia Garner, but Lipa’s relationship with the brand is longer-term than previous celebrity partners. In his time as ambassador, Clooney has weighed in on the brand’s advocacy and sustainability efforts; the hope, Padula said, is to similarly have Lipa participate in business decisions and for the brand to utilize her social following (she has nearly 90 million followers on Instagram alone) to engage new audiences and drive brand consideration and household penetration.

Through the rest of the year, Nespresso plans to host more experiential events across the country and release more products and coffee flavors in connection with the exploration theme laid out in “Vertuo World.” Naturally, Lipa and Clooney will continue to be part of those plans into the foreseeable future.

“We don’t have the five-year plan of commercials mapped out,” Padula said. “But we definitely anticipate and plan to have them still be a committed part of the brand and the business and communication story.”