“Coffee is the favorite beverage of the civilized world,” claimed Thomas Jefferson. Although he said this back in the 18th century, not much has changed: our day still starts with coffee.
For statistics: every year the global coffee market receives investments of 200-300 million dollars, according to Franchising.ua. On the whole, coffee houses account for 40% of the entire coffee market in Ukraine. Why don’t you occupy this niche? And we will tell you how the development of a coffee house brand takes place.
Everybody likes coffee: how to create a brand with inexhaustible potential
Coffee market analysis
Before you purchase equipment and pay for point rental, you need to do some preliminary market research. Desk research are conducted in order to feel the ground and understand how to work with it. This will save time identifying the target audience and save you from rebranding costs if the idea “doesn’t catch on”. Market analysis is the first thing a marketer does when creating a brand.
For example, the analysis that KOLORO provides:
How much does it cost to open a coffee shop
Ukrainian Coffee Company Ltd has researched the market of coffee shops in Ukraine and calculated how much you can spend on opening.
BUT: take into account that the calculation is for large coffee shops – from 60 seats. If we are talking about smaller coffee shops, the budget for opening a small maf with coffee will be 2000-4000 thousand dollars. More voluminous institution for 10-20 seats in a residential area or shopping center will require about 10000-15000 thousand dollars at the start.
Competitor analysis
Information about the successes and failures of your predecessors will help you get a general idea of what you will be doing. When You Should Pay Special Attention to Negative Experience – Why would you want to learn from a rake you’ve already stepped on?
When studying, also pay attention to:
- the assortment provided by competitors (and where they get it);
- Pricing: you’ll be able to understand what the markup is at someone else’s coffee shop and how you can use it;
- all kinds of brand platforms – learn about competitors’ direction vector and choose your own;
- activity on social networks and websites: at the same time you will collect brief information about customers;
- how they advertise their coffee shops: you will understand what media platforms are available and which one suits you best.
Creating a portrait of the target audience
In addition to standard audience analysis based on a set of physical, psychological and situational factors, marketers suggest using the Needscope research system. This system is based on socionics (the science of psycho-emotional characterization of a person), and is also the first research system that uses the theory of psychotypes as a global approach to consumer research. The essence of the program is that each person has a psychotype that is fueled by certain emotions. That is, by a set of psychological characteristics, you calculate your client, and then “press” his or her easily aroused emotions.
As a result, we get:
- social portrait of the consumer, which influences the branding of the coffee shop;
- demographic profile of the consumer;
- psychographic portrait of the consumer;
- the level of consumers’ readiness to buy.
Coffee Franchising
If you are afraid of starting from scratch, you can try the franchise format. In general terms, franchises fall into two categories:
- on self-employment;
- on management.
Individual labor activity is, in fact, the purchase of a workplace. Here you are a boss, an employee, a controller, an accountant, a salesperson, an office manager – all in one person. Plus – you will get a proven and stable income. Minus – you will work for your bosses, not for yourself.
A management franchise is the purchase of a business. Franchise management is about managing and developing your staff. In this category, you are already your own boss. But there’s a catch: your salary level will depend on how well you manage your tasks.
Franchises among coffee shops are quite popular.
For example, the Shokoladnitsa coffee shop franchise provides for such rules:
- coffee house with a mandatory bar and guest area of at least 50 sq.m:
- coffee house in a separate room with a total area of 160-200 sq.m;
- a coffee house with an area of 80-140 sq.m. in a shopping and entertainment center;
- SHOKO-EXPRESS coffee house with an area of 50-80 sq.m.
Read also: Trademark registration: pitfalls
How to develop a coffee shop brand that is close to the visitor’s heart. Positioning
Mission and brand values, corporate identity of the coffee house
Developing a brand style of a coffee house involves positioning. Even if the coffee is the most delicious and the ambience is exquisite – people will not come back without getting the desired mood. To avoid misunderstandings between you and the client, it is worth paying attention to positioning.
After thinking about the essence of positioning, you probably have a question: what to follow – dreams or trends? There are two ways things could go.
1. The first will allow you to quickly and without risks to become a popular place – it is the opening of a coffee shop under the most popular requests of potential customers. Recall at least the boom in sushi bars: it would seem, who could like half-dried fish with undercooked rice and seaweed? However, you should realize that hundreds of people like you will be surfing the fashion wave. It’s important to have a memorable brand face.
2. The second method suggests that you should be brave enough to open the coffee shop of your dreams. This strategy is quite risky, as your vision of the ideal may not coincide with the opinion of others. Nevertheless, someone needs to set a new trend!
Read also: How brands became famous
How to create a coffee shop brand story
If a coffee shop has its own history – then it is reliable. The story begins when the branding of the coffee shop comes into play. For example, Caffè Florian tells the story of how it turned its premises into a national treasure.
History: this is not just a coffee house, but a trademark of the city. Caffè Florian was opened in 1720 on Piazza San Marco and was called “Victorious Venice”. Only exclusive drinks were served in this institution. In the hall you could meet Giacomo Casanova, and later Charles Dickens, George Byron and Ernest Hemingway. It was in this coffee house at the end of the 19th century that the phenomenon that eventually grew into the Venice Biennale was born.
The Starbucks brand has a more modest but no less successful history.
History: it was the current CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, who brought the coffeehouse fashion to the United States. Before him, coffee was considered to be a purely domestic beverage.Also thanks to Howard Schultz, we can now create a coffeehouse brand in its modern sense:
- With an expanded menu that includes more than just lattes, coffee cocktails and other drinks;
- With a menu of various donuts, paninis, and other coffee additions;
- With take-out coffee;
- With an “ideas site” where any of the customers can make suggestions.
We also recommend reading Howard Schultz’s book “How Starbucks was built cup by cup”, you can find a lot of practical ideas for coffee shop branding there.
Developing the naming of a coffee house
If the name of the coffee shop speaks for itself – you do not have to invest a lot of money in promotion and PR-campaigns. All you need to do is:
- match the expectations and motivations of the target audience;
- be recognizable and easy to pronounce;
- Not to raise questions about the direction of the brand.
For example, Andrei Chukovsky, the creator of the stylish Yellow and Black Brew Bar coffee shops, went a little overboard with creativity when he created Whitebeard Blackbird. It seems that coffee is prepared faster than the name is pronounced. Therefore, the coffee house cuts off a huge part of the audience, leaving only loyal fans and poets practicing their memory.
IMHO: Coffee in Andrei Chukovsky’s establishments tastes unforgettable. We recommend it to true connoisseurs.
Lack of inspiration? Read on 12 ways to create a company name
Coffee shop logo development
Coffee is a universal product that can be easily incorporated into everyday life. The recipe for a coffee shop’s popularity is simple: you create a cool logo and name, and there they are on t-shirts, cups, and all sorts of other merchandise. Thanks to the trend for minimalism, which we talked about here и herea certain style of logo design was formed – a minimum of color and details.
Here are coffee shop logos you can wear on t-shirts:
Espressoholic is not just a name. It is a description of a certain caste of people.
Who, by the way, will be happy to purchase merch with their life credo on the logo.
Milk bar logo in general can safely open its own clothing brand.
Taking into account the Korean fashion for product images actively moving to Ukraine, it can turn out to be quite a stylish bow.
The logo that was in the competition for CoffeinCity is also a direct hit with the audience.
And you don’t even have to be a coffee drinker to wear things with that logo.
Can’t think of a logo? Get in touch to us!
Successful coffee shop design. Examples
The interior of the coffee shop is the last stage of creating a corporate identity. It should complement the name and remind you of your mission. To play up the design of the coffee shop, you can use the following styles:
Ecostyle
There is not as much fresh air in the capital as we would like. Honey coffee house offers to cool down overworked brains in its coolness. Here, visitors are offered to enjoy a cup of coffee surrounded by greenery, wood, and soft furniture in pastel colors.
Minimalism
One Love Coffee is a famous place that appeared on the sixth floor of the Pinchuk Art Center contemporary art gallery. The coffee shop is not out of the general entourage of the museum – like Pinchuk, One Love Coffee is made in white color. At the same time, the ice lighting looks brighter, and by changing the colors of the ice it is possible to play up the interior of the coffee house.
Industrial urbanism, or Lofts.
A style that became popular in Ukraine with the emergence of coworking centers. Subdued lamp light, warm colors, a lot of wood, brick and iron – these are the distinctive features of the Loft style. Despite its unpretentiousness, industrial urbanism requires a professional approach of a designer – otherwise the institution risks turning into a dumping ground for industrial waste. When “Silence. Espresso Bar” realized how successful their interior was, they began to offer photo shoots. That’s a great business idea, we’ll take note of it.
Constructivism
Coffee shops in shopping centers are a separate story. You have to be prepared for the fact that you will have nowhere to turn around, so you have to save money on some elements of decoration. Coffeelat has approached the issue with practical constructivism. Here, there is a minimum of details and maximum space for taking a break between purchases. And the wooden finish makes the coffee shop stand out among the black and white concrete of the shopping center.
Vintage
Vintage is an excellent solution if you want to emphasize reliability and old traditions. For example, Lviv Chocolate Workshop looks like a manor where Nicholas II tasted his coffee with “chokolyada”.
Coffee in details: designing the accompanying materials
Menu design
Once we’ve lured our customer inside and seated them in a comfy branded chair, we need to avoid disappointing them with a terrible menu. And we are not talking about the fact that the dishes may not be to their liking. On the contrary – the design of the coffee shop menu can influence the visitor’s appetite.
Classic types of menus in book or sheet format are more suitable for “lounge” coffee shops, where the visitor can relax and think. And keep the menu to order more later.
A more practical option is to have the menu directly above the bar. Firstly, it will force the client to contact the staff, so the chance of being misunderstood is reduced. Perfect for coffee shops with a high turnover of “coffee to go”.
Paper cup design
Even if your customers don’t have time to enjoy the atmosphere of the place, don’t let them go without a takeaway coffee. For this purpose, you can design your own cups, decorating them with your company logo or something else.
An important detail: the smell of coffee
Sounds like a line from Captain Hindsight, but still. Many visitors are annoyed when coffee shops smell of panini sausage instead of coffee. Or vice versa, the concentration of coffee in the air is so great that you do not want to drink it. The design of the coffee house project should provide for quality exhaust hoods, so that visitors will not interfere with the enjoyment of your wonderful establishment.
Creating a website for a coffee shop
In 2015, Nielsen published the results of its Global Trust in Advertising survey, according to which 70% of consumers trust brands with their own websites or social media pages more. On the website you can publish menus, photos of the interior of the coffee shop, master classes, and various competitions.
You can create a website with with us.
In general: developing a coffee shop from “a” to “i” takes a lot of effort, time and inspiration. But we will not leave you! Let’s create together a coffee house brand that will become iconic in Ukraine and beyond.
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