Freezing cold on the Eiffel Tower

Paris can do many things. Pathos anyway. But on this evening, the Eiffel Tower was not just a postcard motif, a place of longing and a selfie magnet. It was a stage, media space, content machine and experimental set-up all in one. Below, tourists moved across the forecourt. Upstairs, in the Salon Gustave Eiffel, cold coffee was staged as if it were the next great ritual of a generation that no longer just drinks coffee, but mixes, films, shares and personalizes it.

m&k was not on the Eiffel Tower as a tourist. But as a VJ. With a camera, an eye for scenes and the question in mind of what it means when a global brand like Nescafé doesn't simply explain its new product, but lets people experience it, dance, post and tell the story.

The main role at this European launch event was not only played by the new Nescafé Espresso Concentrate. The leading role was also played by the new media logic in which creators are not the accessories of a campaign, but its visible driving force.

How Nescafé is re-staging cold coffee

The journey to the party begins like a small procession through Paris. Young influencers from various European markets, carefully styled, in a good mood, with smartphones in hand and content in view, make their way towards the Eiffel Tower. Not as a tour group, but as part of a brand moment.

For Nescafé, this evening is more than just a pretty launch. It is a pan-European kick-off for a product innovation that will be available in retail outlets in Switzerland from June 2026: Nescafé Espresso Concentrate and Nescafé Liquid Concentrates in the Black, Vanilla and Caramel variants.

The principle is simple: a liquid espresso concentrate serves as the basis for iced coffee, iced latte or your own cold coffee creations. Without a machine. Without barista know-how. Without long preparation. A shot, milk or water, ice cubes, flavor to your liking - and your cold coffee at home is ready. What sounds soberly like convenience has been recharged in Paris as an attitude to life.

The elevator as a transition to the brand world

Even the ride to the top is part of the dramaturgy. Together with the creators, we take the elevator up to the Salon Gustave Eiffel. Paris becomes smaller, the anticipation greater. At the top, not only the view over the city opens up, but also a brand world that focuses entirely on coldness, creativity and visibility.

DJ sound. Coffee jockeys mixing drinks. A violinist who adds an elegant touch to the evening. A video box where you can dance with Nescafé products. The recordings are projected directly onto a large screen. Everything is designed to be translated into images, reels, stories and personal mini-experiences. The event lasts around two hours. Long enough to show a product. Short enough to keep the energy going. And spectacular enough to turn a launch into a narrative.

When influencers not only advertise, but also demonstrate

In an exclusive interview with m&k, Guillaume Savoy, Head of Coffee at Nestlé Switzerland, explains why Nescafé is relying so heavily on influencers and creators for this launch. The product needs to be understood first. You have to show how to use it - and what creative possibilities it offers.

This is precisely the strategic core of the evening. Nescafé is not simply selling a bottle of concentrate. The brand is selling a new ritual. And rituals today are not primarily spread through classic product descriptions, but through application, imitation and social visibility.

Savoy puts it like this in the interview: "A new category is being established with this launch. That's why the first step is to educate consumers, get them excited about the product and show its versatility in real life. Influencer marketing, digital presence, out-of-home, tastings and demonstrations should work together.

In this logic, the creators are not decoration. They are translators. They show how a product becomes a drink, a drink becomes a moment and a moment becomes content.

Cold coffee was yesterday. Cold coffee is culture today

The fact that Nescafé chose the Eiffel Tower for this launch naturally has to do with symbolism. But the real reason lies deeper: the coffee market is changing. And cold coffee has long since lost its reputation as a stale punch line.

In the interview, Savoy talks about two major movements in the coffee market: premiumization and cold coffee. Cold consumption in particular is growing strongly. In Switzerland, the proportion of cold coffee occasions has risen from around five to twelve percent in recent years. This trend is being driven primarily by millennials and Gen Z.

What used to be seasonal is becoming a year-round behavior. What began in the coffee shop is moving into the home. And what used to be a drink is becoming a customizable recipe.

This is exactly where Nescafé Espresso Concentrate comes in. The brand aims to translate coffee shop aesthetics into a format that is quick, affordable, variable and suitable for everyday use. Cold coffee is therefore not seen as a ready-to-drink beverage, but as a modular system.

A pioneering brand seeks the next leap

Nescafé is not a small secondary brand for Nestlé, but a global classic. In conversation, Savoy reminds us that Nescafé was invented in Switzerland - and has always been presented as a pioneering brand. Nescafé has been on Mount Everest, on the moon and now, at least symbolically, on the Eiffel Tower.

The parallel to the Parisian landmark was chosen deliberately. At the time of its construction, the Eiffel Tower was also controversial, bold, new and not loved by everyone. Today it is a myth. Savoy sees it as a suitable stage for a brand that wants to make its pioneering spirit visible once again. That's a clever story. Because product innovations don't just need function, they need meaning. Anyone launching a concentrate can talk about dosage, taste and bottle size. Or you can place the product on the Eiffel Tower and say: this is the start of a new coffee adventure.

The party as a content machine

The video shows just how much the evening was designed to be shareable. The influencers film the way to the tower, the ride to the top, the view over Paris, the drinks, the music, the staging in the room and themselves as part of this moment.

Dana from Austria remembers being on the Eiffel Tower as a little girl. Now she has come full circle because Nescafé has invited her to this place. A personal memory becomes a brand moment.

Anais from Basel, who goes by @anaisindra on Instagram, enjoys her vanilla coffee high above the city and sums up what this event is all about: favorite taste, exceptional view, good moment.

Mimoza, @mimozarudaj, beauty, fashion and lifestyle creator, is spinning in circles with joy at Salon Gustave Eiffel. She can hardly believe that she is a Nescafé influencer at this location. And Slavia Karlen from Switzerland can hardly get enough of the cold coffee brew in the video.

This may seem easy, but it is strategically interesting. Because it is precisely this lightness that is the content. No complicated product argumentation. Not a classic commercial. Just a bunch of small scenes that convey the idea: This is what it looks like when cold coffee becomes a lifestyle moment.

From advertising message to instructions for use

This case is particularly exciting for the marketing audience because it shows how the role of communication is shifting. The product doesn't just have to be made known. It must be explained. And not in a dry way, but in an appetizing, casual and imitable way. Guillaume Savoy says in the interview that influencers and creators are the key to this concept. It's about creating your own iced coffee creations at home. Who better to demonstrate this than people who share their recipes, routines and preferences with communities on a daily basis anyway?

In countries such as the UK, where the product has already been launched, this is precisely the dynamic that works: people share their recipes, show their variations and turn the product into a personal expression. This not only creates reach around Nescafé Espresso Concentrate, but also a kind of culture of use.

This is perhaps the most important point of the launch: the campaign is not primarily selling cold coffee. It sells the idea that anyone and everyone can invent their own cold coffee.

Awareness, OOH and real tasting

As much as the evening focuses on creator logic, the campaign is not limited to influencer marketing. Savoy is talking about a mix of influencer marketing, digital, out-of-home, tastings and demonstrations.

After the reveal event in Paris, the awareness phase will begin in Switzerland. This should be about anchoring the new format in people's minds in the first place. After all, Espresso Concentrate requires more explanation than a classic instant coffee or a ready-made iced coffee from the chiller cabinet.

This is precisely why the demonstration is so important. Consumers should see how quickly the drink can be prepared, how different the recipes can be and how well the product fits into personal routines.

Or, to put it in the style of the evening: only when the shot lands in the glass, the ice clinks and the drink looks good, does the real communication begin.

The Eiffel Tower as a shortcut to meaning

Of course, such a product could also have been launched in a showroom, a pop-up store or a hip café bar. But the Eiffel Tower does a lot at once in terms of communication. It delivers international recognizability, visual impact, social media suitability and a story of boldness, height and myth.

For a brand like Nescafé, which sees itself as a pioneer, this is not just a backdrop. It is a statement.

The place says: This is bigger than a new flavor.
The party says: This belongs to a young, visual, mobile culture.
The product says: Cold coffee is made at home - but with a coffee shop feel.

The open question: Where is the strong movie?

As convincing as the evening was as an experience, creator stage and social media machine, one interesting question remains unanswered from a journalistic perspective: How does Nescafé tell the story of this new coffee world in a strong, independent film? In the interview, Guillaume Savoy referred specifically to influencer marketing, digital, out-of-home, tastings and demonstrations - but did not go into detail about a classic film presentation.

But that would be particularly exciting. Because as much as creators deliver application, proximity and speed today, a brand of the size and appeal of Nescafé still needs a strong film. An appearance that not only shows how to mix the product, but also why this new coffee ritual is culturally relevant. A spot that works for TV, cinema, YouTube and digital moving image formats. A film that turns the product promise into a brand world.

The launch on the Eiffel Tower provided plenty of material for this: Paris, height, cold, music, young people, the view over the city, the clinking of ice, the shot in the glass, the brand with its pioneering history. A strong brand film could easily be distilled from this. Precisely because Nescafé is not simply launching a new coffee here, but asserting a new ritual.

Conclusion: A cold coffee with hot media logic

At the end of the evening, there is more than just a view over Paris. With the launch of its Liquid Concentrates, Nescafé shows how product innovation, experience staging and creator marketing can go hand in hand.

The case is exciting because it doesn't simply let influencers loose on a product. It uses them where they are particularly strong: in demonstrating, varying, translating and emotionalizing. The brand provides the product, stage and symbolism. The creators provide application, proximity and distribution.

For m&k, this evening was more than just a nice date at the Eiffel Tower. It was a glimpse into a form of communication in which brands no longer just send messages, but build situations that others want to tell others about. But it was also a reminder that experience and creator power only develop their full effect when they are supported by a strong brand idea that also endures on film.

Or to put it another way: cold coffee has rarely been so charged. And the Eiffel Tower has rarely been so caffeinated. Now it would be exciting to see what movie comes out of it.