Coffee to Pencils

David Paull
Behavioral Storytelling
2 min readAug 5, 2021
Credit: Nespresso

Creative example of keeping the story going long after the purchase.

Hey storytellers.

Did you know coffee can be made into pencils? Me neither. Check it…

Nespresso coffee comes in aluminum pods.

With every order they send recycling bags to return the used pods for free.

That’s always been a huge selling point for me. If I had to toss them I’d never use Nespresso.

But I never thought about the used pods after that.

The Nespresso story has always been that I love their coffee and feel good about sending back my empties.

Now, Nespresso has gone a step further and added a Recycling Story.

Rather than just recycling the pods, they work with other companies to turn them into products.

Currently they’ve turned them into pencils using recycled coffee grounds in the lead and aluminum in the body.

They make them in the original colors of the pods (very on brand!) and use them as a gift-with-purchase.

Nespresso just expanded the story and by putting pencils in my hand I now think of Nespresso (a coffee brand) when I’m doing something not even related to drinking coffee.

And, they make me feel good about it because I’m part of the recycling story by returning my pods.

The takeaway is the value of finding a way to continue the story beyond the traditional use of your product or service.

Here’s the email copy and imagery so you can see how they put it together.

Credit: Nespresso
Credit: Nespresso

Thanks for reading.

Want more like this? Try my newsletter, Dispatches in Storytelling,
a free Saturday morning deep-dive on a hot storytelling topic.

Why not follow along on LinkedIn?

Can I offer a talk at your event? Check out my Speaker Packet.

If I can be of any help to you, please reach out.

Cheers and remember, success finds those who tell compelling stories.

--

--