Building an Urban Brand That Breaks All the Rules

In a city where beverage trends come and go with every season, Cool Sips dared to introduce something entirely different: a West Coast-inspired “dirty soda” experience tailored for fast-paced New York life.

Cool Sips wasn’t another juice bar or coffee chain. It was a fully customizable beverage brand allowing customers to build their drink from soda, tea, coconut water, and iced coffee bases, then mix in flavored syrups, cream, and even probiotic boba. With hundreds of combinations and a fully modular system, the concept was refreshingly disruptive but dangerously easy to miscategorize.
That’s where we came in.

From Confusion to Clarity: Branding a New Category

The client came to us with a preliminary logo but an instinct that something wasn’t quite landing. Just before pulling the plug on the project, they asked us to step in and reimagine the entire brand not just visually, but strategically. Our role was to define what this brand truly was, and how to position it in a way that resonated with both locals and tourists, all while being scalable enough for national rollout.

We knew this wasn’t just a drink shop, it was a category creator. So we positioned Cool Sips not as a trend follower, but as a flavor-first, experience-driven beverage destination. Something playful, premium, and deeply personal.

A Strategic Brand Identity Built for Growth

Rather than lean into health or wellness tropes, we anchored the brand in personality, exploration, and individuality. The surfer-inspired brand character (“Kai”) embodied a carefree, West Coast vibe, but we grounded him in urban sensibilities, creating a brand that felt relatable all year long, not just during summer.

The brand system was designed with adaptability in mind. In a city where square footage is gold, Cool Sips needed to shine across multiple retail formats from tight sidewalk storefronts to branded corners in food halls and high-traffic transit zones. The identity had to carry enough personality to spark curiosity, yet be efficient enough to roll out rapidly across a multi-location business model.

From the bold yet friendly logo to the playful pattern system (inspired by flowing syrup lines and boba paths), the branding brought the product experience to life. And by owning the customization narrative without overexplaining it, we allowed the brand to remain intuitive, fun, and low-pressure making it inviting to both loyal locals and first-time visitors.

A Brand That Scales by Design

Less than a year after launch, Cool Sips has opened five locations across New York City, with more in the pipeline. Designed for agility, the brand looks and feels cohesive across corner shops, mall kiosks, and even potential airport builds.

It’s not just gaining traction, it’s becoming a ritual. From online reviews celebrating the drink combinations to the shareable, photogenic visuals seen on Instagram and TikTok, Cool Sips has carved out a space between coffee culture and bubble tea and made it its own.

Brand strategy. Visual identity. Scalable storytelling. All brewed in NYC.

Cool Sips is proof that with the right strategy and a bold identity, even the most unconventional ideas can become daily habits.