Submitted by The Romans

Oatly Taste

Influencer Marketing

The Romans staged a blind coffee tasting for Oatly in Amsterdam with Scandinavian Embassy, reporting 4M+ media reach and 1.2M social media reach through influencers.

4M+media reach
1.2Msocial media reach via influencers
30+visitors

Case in 60 seconds

The Romans was briefed to prove that plant based is not only better for the environment but tastes better, which required a demonstration of flavour rather than a restatement of the environmental case.

The campaign appears to turn on the page's own observation that food preferences rest on deeply rooted biases, because a drinker who can see which cup holds oat milk is judging the label before the liquid.

The organizing thesis was to take the label out of the decision by serving two coffees that differed only in the milk, so that a stated preference arrived before anyone knew what had been poured.

Together with the Amsterdam bakery Scandinavian Embassy, The Romans invited media and influencers to a Monday morning coffee session where each visitor was served two coffees and asked which one they preferred. The taste guru Chantal van der Leest guided the group through how food preferences rest on deeply rooted biases, and Oatly closed by introducing a signature drink, a liquid version of the Swedish pastry Semla.

The Romans reports 30+ visitors at the session, 4M+ media reach and 1.2M social media reach through influencers, so the documented return is coverage and attention rather than any sales measure.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

Media and influencers invited to a Monday morning coffee session in Amsterdam, described on the page as visitors and guests rather than by any demographic terms.
Based on the available evidence, the tension is that plant based drinks are conceded on environmental grounds while flavour remains the standing objection, so Oatly needed a setting where taste was judged before the category was named.
Drinks in this category are argued about more often than they are tasted, and a brand asserting its own flavour advantage is discounted as marketing, which is why the comparison was handed to the guests themselves.
Oatly appears as the thing being judged rather than as the voice making the claim, and steps forward only at the end with the Semla drink, once the preference has already been given.
Preference reads as more honest when the taster does not know what is being compared, because the deeply rooted bias the page describes attaches to the label rather than to the liquid in the cup.

Creative & Execution System

Partners

  • The Romans (lead_agency)

Participation mechanic

  • Visitors were served two different coffees and asked which they preferred while unaware that the milk rather than the coffee was the variable, so the verdict came from the room rather than from the brand.

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult type
media reach4M+ media reachreach
social media reach via influencers1.2M social media reach through influencersreach
visitors30+ visitorsscale

Why The Romans's strategy worked

  1. 1

    A blind comparison converts a brand claim into a result the audience produces itself, which is why a preference given before the reveal carries weight that the same preference asserted in advertising cannot.

  2. 2

    Pairing the demonstration with an expert who explains the bias at work gives attendees a reason for their own surprise, which turns a tasting into something media and influencers can retell.

  3. 3

    Reporting 4M+ media reach and 1.2M social media reach through influencers against a room of 30+ visitors suggests the event was built as earned coverage rather than as an audience in itself.

  4. 4

    Holding the product news back until after the verdict, in this case the liquid Semla drink, lets the reveal land on an audience that has already committed to a preference rather than one being sold to.

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