Branding :)

[JLew]

HI!!!
So we have been in Business for 9 Years, we have One drive thru espresso hut (at one point we had 3, and it was just to much work for me and my mom) , and One concession trailer for shows during the summer....Well, for a few years I've REALLY wanted to up our branding.....I want to get custom cups printed but, every time I check into what it would cost up front it is CRAZY expensive! So we looked into stickers.....what a pain.....but????????? I tried a stamp...even more of a pain and to many screw ups resulting in to much lost products.......what to do? How do you guys brand your products?????????????????????????????????????????????????

 

[CoffeeJunky]

I think there are many different ways to do it.
Print the sleeves instead of the cup.
Sponsor local high school teams. I would do girls vollyball, girls basketball, soft ball and etc.
Try and see if u could put ur coffee on some local public event
Try to print out coupons for espresso base drinks only.

 

[eldub]

I'm not really sure that having your name on a cup has much of an advantage. The person who bought the coffee knows where they got it.

I'd say the more important factor would be the quality of the product in the cup. Make them want to come back for more. People might complain about bad coffee, they might tell their friends about an exceptional cup but I'm not sure anyone really cares about what's on the cup.

 

[PinkRose]

Your money would be better spent on give-away items instead of throw-away items. Put your logo on magnets, or pens, or something that they'd keep around the house or office. Your logo will be in their sight, and planted in their minds all day long. You could also sell travel mugs with your logo on them. At least they won't toss them in the trash when they finish their coffee.

Rose

 

[eldub]

Sounds like a good idea, Rose....

 

[JLew]

I TOTALLY disagree with not branding your cup...I think IT'S super important, and if people really thought that why would all the big guys brand their cups? It's a status thing, saying "check out what I have", it also does a lot of advertising to other people when they're walking around with your logo in their hand or when they see it sitting on a desk.... getting it done without a huge upfront investment is the issue.... We already have branded travel cups, but not everyone wants a travel cup... I like the magnet and pen idea. I'm a photographer in my other life and branding is HUGE...I realize this is the food industry so in our case I believe that what is in the cup is important, but also believe that on top of good product, great customer service gets you further then anything, I also believe that having strong branding is a key to success but you can't do it half ass, that would be like using Folgers to make your latte'. It's not just branding, but a combination of those 3 things, great product, great customer service, and selling your brand/representing your brand that will make a great business. No?

 

[PinkRose]

It looks like you've already decided to put your name on the coffee cups, which means it needs to be important enough to you to want to invest some extra dollars in the effort.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

I TOTALLY disagree with not branding your cup...I think IT'S super important, and if people really thought that why would all the big guys brand their cups? It's a status thing, saying "check out what I have", it also does a lot of advertising to other people when they're walking around with your logo in their hand or when they see it sitting on a desk.... getting it done without a huge upfront investment is the issue.... We already have branded travel cups, but not everyone wants a travel cup... I like the magnet and pen idea. I'm a photographer in my other life and branding is HUGE...I realize this is the food industry so in our case I believe that what is in the cup is important, but also believe that on top of good product, great customer service gets you further then anything, I also believe that having strong branding is a key to success but you can't do it half ass, that would be like using Folgers to make your latte'. It's not just branding, but a combination of those 3 things, great product, great customer service, and selling your brand/representing your brand that will make a great business. No?

I agree with you about print your name on your cup is very important. But there are few factors involve here. As a small guy, you always have to weigh the investment verse reward. That is why i thought printing on sleeves are more effect way to getting this done instead of cup. Also you have to spend a lot of up front cost but also if you do not spend tons up front, you will be pay for them later. To buy cups in bulk, I priced around 12,000 dollars to be able to purchase cheapest. Yes, it is all about the branding if you can afford to spend the money. If you can't, you have the find the what is the next best thing.....

Good LUck

 

[eldub]

I'm guessing we spend as much on our double walled biodegradable cups as you would on your your printed cups. I've priced printed cups and I'm not sure why you view them as cost prohibitive. Especially if you consider them that important to the success of your nine year old business. I guess I don't want to be like the big guys. But if I did, I'd just contact a few suppliers and go with the best bid.

Btw, we sell organic teeshirts as well as coffee mugs, hand thrown in WI, with our Corazon Coffee Roaster logo on them. I'm sure we could have sourced cheaper teeshirts and mugs, but that's not how we wanted our brand to be perceived.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

There are many different ways to brand your business. There is no wrong way to brand your business but I think it is all about what you can afford. There are many creative ways to brand. I guess its all up to the owners how they are going to spend their money....

 

[PinkRose]

Hi JLew

When you were using stickers, how did you use them? Did you put the stickers on the cups all at once, or did you put them on each cup as you were making the drinks? I think if I ever wanted to use stickers, I'd pay my little niece or nephew to put the stickers on the cups for me. (cheap labor and they'd feel like they're helping)

Rose

 

[JLew]

I'm guessing we spend as much on our double walled biodegradable cups as you would on your your printed cups. I've priced printed cups and I'm not sure why you view them as cost prohibitive. Especially if you consider them that important to the success of your nine year old business. I guess I don't want to be like the big guys. But if I did, I'd just contact a few suppliers and go with the best bid.

Btw, we sell organic teeshirts as well as coffee mugs, hand thrown in WI, with our Corazon Coffee Roaster logo on them. I'm sure we could have sourced cheaper teeshirts and mugs, but that's not how we wanted our brand to be perceived.

The cups themselves do not really cost that much more per cup, it's the fact that basically we have to buy 20 cases of each size of cup...we have 4 sizes of hot cups....thats a lot of upfront money......

 

[JLew]

Hi JLew

When you were using stickers, how did you use them? Did you put the stickers on the cups all at once, or did you put them on each cup as you were making the drinks? I think if I ever wanted to use stickers, I'd pay my little niece or nephew to put the stickers on the cups for me. (cheap labor and they'd feel like they're helping)

Rose

We just got enough to try, and see if we like it...the problem with stickers is it's very easy to look sloppy...just like a stamp. So having a kid do it, really wouldn't look professional. If we did go that route we would do each sleeve of cups at a time, in a drive thru there is just not time to be sticking stickers to cups one at a time....Lame, I know!

 

[Creative_Studios]

JLew,

I don't run a cafe but I know a thing or two about branding. My suggestion would be to use the stickers, spend a night with the misses or as PinkRose suggested, see if the nephews will help out. With that extra bit of publicity you could start saving up for the fancy cups.

At the end of the day people will talk about the cups they got and even if some people say "this looks cheap". When you bring out the fancy cups people will already remember the cheap cups and they will change the opinion to "these guys are really stepping up a notch". If the coffee is good, people won't care about the stickers, it's people that see the cups with your logo that your targeting. Also, if someone asks one of your customers "do you know of a good coffee place around here", they will remember you and won't even think about the stickers.