20 Aug 2007

Coffee Talks

Ever wondered which coffee sells the best?

Let me tell you - a branded coffee. Any of our daily "CuP of LiFe" or as I sometimes like to call it my elixir, if it were branded, you would be willing to pay for it. Spinelli and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf some of the foreign entrants onto our uncultured (in coffee terms) territory, being a marketplace of -local roast (normally with additives into the grounded coffee), which gives it that local Flava - which on some occasions I am attracted to.

What exactly am I driving at - you might ask, its actually a post about branding. Many local SMEs do not brand themselves because they feel that they have no need to brand themselves, to differentiate themselves from the competitors, and to obliterate the noise and communicate directly with their target audience. They do not see it on most occasions is because traditionally Asians do not go out and BLAB about their business - as it being "the best, the fastest, the brightest" It the product/service sells it sells itself - no need to do all these bells and whistles - the whole exercise is pointless.

Starbucks focuses on creating a community environment when selling coffee. Their main business model is pivoted on the selling of Cafexperience. Drink Coffee - experience the lifestyle. It no longer focuses on t he beverage but the experience drinking the coffee. Although the coffee isn't fantastic (by die-hard caffine addicted white-collars), yet many still are willing to part with that their pretty dollar for a cuppa.

I just had dinner with some non-business people (courtesy of St Margaret's Sec School) and the topic of Starbucks came up. 2 Teenagers totally SWEAR-by starbucks, they claim that Starbucks is the place to be - to see and to be seen. (ouch, oldies like us prefer to see than to be seen, especially in a caffine heightened state of agitation). Apparently, our generation Z prefer starbucks over to Spinelli or Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Probably given its clear and distinct branding. Its promotion of its lifestyle position in the F&B industry

Local counter-part Ya-Kun is what I would imagine as being equivalently successful in establishing a clear brand message to consumers, while the others like Wang Jiao, Ah Mei Cafe, Killiney Kopitiam are sending mixed and distorted signals.

By this observation, it sends shivers down my spine because it becomes apparent to me that by trying to do more or try to do everything, we confuse people, eventually the signal by not being clear, reduces the ability for a brand to stand the test of time. So it sorta means - Brand now or die shortly. From another standpoint - some SMEs don't do it because of finance. Our GAHMEN has noticed this and has undertaken to provide grants to help SMEs brand themselves. Although I am not certain how easy (or difficult) it is to get these grants, but I hope someone who has gotten the grant, can share their experience on their branding.