Four inspirations given by Starbucks & Philz Coffee to the Coffee Man

If we count some stores that affect the "coffee" industry, we can come up with a lot of familiar names: starbucks, philz, bluebottle, Intelligentsia, tim hortons …

The reason why these companies are remembered by us, in addition to the explosive business performance, more importantly, they have even changed the local people's understanding of the taste and culture of coffee, and achieved great business success.

1. Create habitual experiences instead of creating products

Philz Coffee may not be familiar with Starbucks. Philz Coffee's first store opened in San Francisco's MISSION district in 2003. The slogan of Philz Coffee is "One Cup at a Time" (one cup at a time). The coffee shop is not for office workers who pass by in a hurry, but hopes that every guest who arrives at the cafe will carefully enjoy a cup of loving coffee. Even Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, personally invited Philz Coffee to the headquarters building to open a store.

Does the secret of a successful coffee shop really lie in the "product" itself?

The foreign brand coffee giant we are familiar with has actually devoted a lot of energy to the study of "community experience". In the early years, founder Phil would listen very carefully to the needs of customers and adjust the ratio of milk to sugar accordingly. After it is done, he will invite customers to have a taste first, try to see if they are satisfied with the taste, and adjust them according to your needs. More than a decade later, no matter which Philz Coffee store you walk into, you can enjoy this service. Maybe that's why Philz Coffee is rated as "the most friendly and user-friendly coffee shop" by TechCrunch in the United States.

The tone of Philz Coffee is to "slow down" the coffee experience, bringing consumers together to create a sense of experience in the community. Just like we chat with old friends, it has become a habit to make an appointment in a cafe. Don't ignore the power of habit.

2. Valuable innovation

Starbucks membership system left a deep impression on domestic consumers, scientific membership gradient design has also become the object of many stores to emulate. In foreign countries, Starbucks' innovation is more reflected in the advance payment system, where consumers can order and pay for coffee directly through mobile app, and follow a series of incentive plans.

The domestic app membership system has also been in operation for many days, and customers who often go to Starbucks are no stranger. In addition to a variety of card choices, they also realize network-wide interconnection of store locations, promotional information, membership levels, consumption records, and so on. Starbucks can be regarded as a pioneer in the coffee industry for brand integration in the field of mobile payment. Foreign Starbucks online purchases have accounted for 25% of turnover. It is expected to rise.

3. Influence marketing

Starbucks' interactive marketing is more typical, especially at a time when social media is popular. Starbucks can trigger customers to upload their own content and form competition incentives from time to time.

Individual stores also need fans, you direct and act in a good movie, as long as you need an audience.

Make full use of social networks to increase their influence in the minds of consumers, and many well-known big brands also know this, spending a lot of money every year just to give you one more look in the crowd.

The effect of influence marketing is to maintain the emotion and enjoy the mass passenger flow brought by the general reputation. For example, from "this shop is owned by friends, we should go" to "this shop friends say yes, we want to go".

4. It's coffee.

It has been nearly a year since we opened this account (boutique coffee aesthetics), and this is the value I most want to express: let's not forget that we sell coffee.

-- not the product of a cult.

No matter what kind of brand story a large coffee brand has created, you will find that successful companies sell coffee as "coffee" or, more simply, a drink.

In 2002, Philz Coffee was just a small coffee shop next to the corner market. Now it has become the most popular coffee brand in the rich bay area. Philz Coffee wants to challenge Starbucks, but also wants to avoid being associated with "third wave" coffee brands that focus only on high-end consumers.

At today's Philz Cafe, business elites laugh with firefighters and plumbers, waiting in line for 15 minutes for a special Wonderbar or iced mint mojito (hand-filtered coffee, fresh mint, syrup, whipped cream).

Coffee culture has become an important bridge between world trade and culture. It connects a group of people in the community, as well as the discussion of coffee life in different continents and countries. The success of Starbucks and Philz Coffee has taught us to think about the core of the coffee business: how to create a true "coffee + community" experience and a "good place" for consumers to enjoy a delicious coffee experience.

Reference: Entrepreneur