The Shake Express
Vietnam's worst delivery roads do the shaking, so every can of coffee arrives perfectly mixed
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AI Translation Summary
BOLD84's canned coffee is made with real ingredients, so it has to be shaken before drinking — an unfamiliar habit for Vietnamese consumers. Instead of explaining the step, the brand launched The Shake Express, a delivery service that deliberately routes every order down Ho Chi Minh City's bumpiest streets. The potholes shake each can in transit, so it arrives ready to drink, and cameras in the delivery box let customers watch it happen. A frustrating everyday annoyance became the product demo.
Cultural Context
Vietnam is the world's second-largest coffee producer, so its coffee market is fiercely crowded. Its dense cities are also known for rough, pothole-filled delivery roads — the very problem this campaign turned into an asset.
Entry Information
Summary
Challenge As the world’s second-largest coffee producer, Vietnam is a highly competitive market filled with countless brands. BOLD84 enters with something new: canned coffee made with real ingredients that needs a good shake before drinking. This new behavior presents a dual challenge: educating consumers while becoming the talk of the town. Idea Instead of telling consumers what to do, we show them how to do it by turning one of Vietnam’s most frustrating delivery experiences - the bumpy roads, into our biggest advantage. The Shake Express, a delivery service that delivers BOLD84 coffee exclusively on the bumpiest roads, letting potholes do the shaking for consumers.
Strategy
BOLD84 coffee posed a real barrier to trial. Made with real ingredients, the coffee naturally settles and needs shaking before drinking, a behaviour unfamiliar to local consumers. Instead of relying on education or instruction, the strategy used culture as the solution. Vietnam’s famously bumpy delivery routes were reframed from a delivery problem into a functional asset. By intentionally routing deliveries through the roughest streets, the product arrived already shaken and ready to drink. This approach was rooted in observation rather than heavy research. It translated a product truth into a behaviour people already understood. For young urban drinkers, the idea felt local, practical, and talkable, solving both awareness and trial challenges.
Execution
Shake Express turned the delivery journey into the media channel. Leveraging 62,000 local drivers, we mapped Ho Chi Minh City's bumpiest roads and instructed drivers to avoid smooth routes, ensuring every coffee was naturally shaken during transit and arrived exactly as intended. Consumers could even watch their orders being shaken in real time. The idea was amplified through a focused media mix. Our hero film, OOH, PR, and digital ads drove consumers to a microsite to order BOLD84 via Shake Express. Live deliveries became short-form social content, while paid media built credibility and organic coverage extended our reach internationally. Designed to be lean yet scalable, every delivery served as both a product trial and a piece of content.
Results
This campaign delivered outstanding impact by translating cultural relevance into measurable business results. It became #1 talked about Ready-to-Drink coffee brand. In just 14 days, it secured 23 PR articles across top-tier Vietnamese media and was even picked up by the Vietnamese national television, generating over 44 million impressions and more than 5 million video views. The momentum continued with strong audience engagement, achieving 22,000+ interactions and inspiring dozens of pieces of user-generated content. Beyond awareness, the campaign drove real commercial outcomes, delivering over 5000 cans per day and an exceptional ROI of 1,865%.