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Alfred Coffee Is The Brand Moment
How a coffee company turned valuable real estate into a revenue stream
Ali Kaltman
March 30, 2025
Brand: Alfred Coffee
Campaign: Sleeve Marketing
Read time: 5 minutes
💬 Overview 💬
If there’s one trendy LA coffee spot to take note of, it has to be Alfred Coffee.
Known for their signature vanilla latte, this shop has a chokehold on the LA elite.
On any given day of the week, you can find influencers in their G-Wagons stopping by to be seen or countless assistants grabbing their usuals on their way to work.
Alfred is THE spot.
There are 19 locations, and the place has become a local chain.
AND Alfred has done an exceptional job of scaling locally while maintaining their core brand of being premium coffee with a local feel.
So how did their coffee sleeves become such a thing?
~10 years ago, a design exec was making her routine stop at Alfred when she threw out an idea.
She asked if Alfred would ever be interested in having her studio redesign their sleeves.
Founder Josh Sad then had a lightbulb moment.
He realized he was sitting on some very valuable real estate.
And the rest is history…
💙 The Branded Moment 💙
At the time, Alfred sleeves featured a simple yet playful design:
Four stylized mustaches, a nod to its namesake, Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred
They were clever, but they weren’t a conversation starter.
The collaboration with Wearstler (the design studio from 10 years ago) changed that.
It gave the sleeves a design-forward aesthetic and set the stage for what would come next:
A rotating canvas for brands
Zad saw an opportunity beyond branding Alfred itself.
What if the sleeves became real estate for other companies? Not just for logos, but for full-scale campaigns that resonated with Alfred’s audience?
The people of LA’s eyes were already there…
Fast forward to today, and Alfred Coffee has turned the coffee sleeve into a highly coveted marketing platform.
Check out the full list of brands who have collaborated on sleeves here!
Alfred’s selective approach makes these partnerships feel organic, not forced.
That’s why CBS, when promoting its For Your Consideration Emmy screening app, chose Alfred sleeves over traditional OOHs or a Variety magazine spread (how cool…).
They knew their ideal audience (Emmy voters) were grabbing coffee at Alfred’s Beverly Hills, Brentwood, and West Hollywood locations, so they decided to buy out the sleeves month before the Emmy’s.
Plus, Alfred’s gets over 120,000 visitors every month.
So not only do you have 120k people who have been exposed to your campaign, BUT you also have every person sitting next to you in an office, at a workout class, etc. exposed as well.
It’s a portable billboard in highly visible places.
Unlike traditional or digital ads that can be skipped or ignored, a coffee cup is sure to be seen.
So, what makes Alfred’s sleeve strategy work?
It’s organic.
No one wants to be hit over the head with an ad. But a well-designed coffee sleeve? Great. Alfred’s new ad format doesn’t feel like an ad at all.
It’s exclusive.
Zad is careful about who gets space on his sleeves, keeping the brand’s cool factor in mind with every partnership choice.
It’s exciting.
Every partnership is 1 month only, and then it gets refreshed. People actually look forward to seeing who will get their chance at the next sleeve. And Alfred alwayssss makes sure that the sleeves look good.
It’s marketing genius.
💡 Results 💡
Alfred’s coffee sleeves are now iconic.
And the numbers speak for themselves.
Alfred charges (at least) $15,000/month to the desiring brand. They’ve estimated that each partnership gets around 2.8M impressions.
The brand has hosted partnerships with Bumble, Postmates, fashion labels like Paige and Lunya, and even global giants like Nike, Disney, and American Airlines.
What an incredible way to take partnerships to the next level and even monetize your brand real estate even further.
🎬 Take Action 🎬
What prime real estate are you not thinking about?
If you’re a CPG brand with major distribution, is there real estate that might serve a better purpose for your brand & partnerships?
Look at Liquid Death’s last Super Bowl campaign for a great example of that.
You just might unlock a completely new revenue stream for your business…
What’s New This Week
One new product I tried this week 👉 Mosh Bars - I tried the blueberry bars and they were actually really good.
One new campaign I’m loving 👉 Halo Tops Mix-In Campaign - So cute
One piece of content to watch 👉 Not marketing related, but I loved the Drake & Josh Reunion on The Good Guys Podcast
Brandkeeping
If you enjoyed this newsletter, please forward it on to 3 marketers you know!
And if you have a brand or campaign you want to spotlight, please reply directly to this newsletter.
Let’s chat!
See ya!
Ali
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