Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee recently partnered with the band Third Day and is currently on tour with them, promoting COFFEE, COMMUNITY, JUSTICE. I spent the past week working with the marketing team and graphic designers in tweaking our branding, tailoring our marketing material, and developing new merch, bag labels, website pages, blogs, business cards, and fliers. James LaCroix, a nashville-based graphic designer who branded and designed the very popular "To Write Love on Her Arms," put his other work on hold and helped us pound out loads of new material. One of the issues we faced with the new image was trying to incorporate Third Day's aesthetic with Land of a Thousand Hills. Third Day's edgier look and LOTH's African decor merged well, as did their stories. After meeting with Third Day's drummer, David Carr, I was able to create the text for a LOTH/Third Day coffee bag label. Here's what I wrote (channeling the voice of David Carr):

I recently discovered a great little coffeehouse outside of Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to serving an excellent, freshly roasted cup of joe, Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee™ Company serves farmers in Rwanda. I was surprised to learn that 80% of the coffee Americans consume is exploitation coffee, but Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee™ works directly with coffee growers in Rwanda to ensure each worker is treated fairly and paid a Living Wage. As they enjoy the fruit of their labor, growers experience the sweetness of God’s grace. Perhaps this is the Revelation many Christians need to hear; that their daily habits have a remarkable impact on people all over the world, that through simply purchasing coffee where every worker is taken care of, an entire nation is experiencing redemption. Land of a Thousand Hills™ has become my third place community. I invite you to be a part of this community as we come together to make a difference in Rwanda by the coffee we drink. It’s that simple. Drink Coffee. Do Good.

--David Carr, Third Day


I also wanted to include the Land of a Thousand Hills' story, so the label also includes the following text that is intended to pique a customer's interest:

Make a difference by the coffee you drink.

At Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee™, we are passionate about EXCELLENCE IN COFFEE, pursuing SOCIAL JUSTICE, and cultivating a THIRD PLACE COMMUNITY. In a post-genocide nation, Rwandan coffee communities are becoming a vibrant picture of opportunity and sustainability.

www.DrinkCoffeeDoGood.com



Excellence in coffee, pursuing social justice, and cultivating a third place community (the first being home, the second work, and the third place is your "hangout") are LOTH's three big values. The verbiage can get long and tedious, however, so for branding purposes, we cut the extra words and focused on what a reader/viewer would be most attracted to: COFFEE, COMMUNITY, JUSTICE. In the shortest fashion possible, this phrase projects our core values and begs attention.

Learning how to fuse writing and marketing is a challenge for me because I am NOT a saleswoman. I'm a minimalist (often in my writing, as well) and unless I think a product is absolutely necessary, I will tell a consumer they probably don't need it. Good thing I believe in COFFEE, COMMUNITY, JUSTICE. Drinking Coffee and Doing Good is something I can get behind as a consumer, a saleswoman, a marketer, and a writer.

Until next post, I'll be drinking coffee, doing good, and writing about it!