Fast-turn lifestyle photography for a Starbucks merchandise collection
Starbucks needed a lifestyle content library for a matcha merchandise collection launch. The request came in on February 2 with a target to deliver assets ahead of a March 3 launch. Fact check: that’s not a lot of time.
We needed to develop ideas fast, but they still had to be on-trend and on-brand obviously. And we knew that we had to get cross-functional alignment from the Starbucks teams. We quickly shifted our vision from just a photoshoot to a cohesive content system that included email, social, and e-commerce campaigns. Thinking holistically gave us the best opportunity to deliver on time.
We took an initial moodboard and brought it to life in a clear creative direction that balanced Gen Z and millennial aesthetics while always keeping the merchandise front and center.
We developed a set of lifestyle images designed to feel like one person in one environment through a continuous narrative, guided by the idea that the campaign should feel like it exists within the same world.
We refined the direction across talent, location, styling, and props to ensure a contemporary lifestyle feel, simplifying overly styled concepts and removing elements that felt staged to maintain brand consistency.
Every image was crafted to clearly feature the product and highlight key design details in real-world scenarios, including specific product orientation and differentiation between at-home and on-the-go use.
The project was shot, edited, and delivered in 20 days, which allowed teams to immediately begin email builds, social rollouts, and press releases.
Beyond the original scope, we used 35mm film photography to provide a more tactile, analog feel and a premium editorial quality that elevated the overall storytelling.
We launched quickly and efficiently by balancing speed with creative quality and premium taste. It was all possible by successfully aligning multiple teams without slowing execution, delivering assets that were immediately usable across all channels.
