Wake Up and Smell the Espresso or the Mocha Java, or Whatever

I got an interesting offer for a “marketing barter” from a fellow I met yesterday. 

“My offer still stands… 2 lbs. of the ‘best’ fresh roasted coffee delivered by FedEx Ground to your office door for only a few nuggets of tactical marketing actions that would lead to sales of my fresh roasted coffee. Check the website out www.winterscoffee.com.” 

Now normally I’m not inclined to give away the farm.  And I don’t think it would be too revealing to say that my billable hour is worth a little more than a couple of pounds of Mexican Organic Decaf. But I liked his style and I’m a coffee fiend, so here are a couple of suggestions for Winters Coffee. 

It’s All About Strategy

First, devising tactical marketing campaigns in the absence of an overarching marketing strategy is a little like giving a decaf skim latte to a college student. While there are times when even 20-year-olds get caffeine jitters, the college students I know like their coffee with some kick in it. Without an understanding of the company’s objectives and the context for its marketing programs (e.g. what’s been done in the past, what you are trying to accomplish, competitive issues, etc.) it’s difficult to design effective marketing tactics. So invest some time in reviewing your business objectives and setting a marketing strategy that aligns with them.
 

Use CGM to Distinguish Yourself

Coffee is one of the most saturated markets. There are almost as many Starbucks as McDonald’s and they’ve extended the franchise from urban hipsters to housewives shopping at Safeway. In a highly undifferentiated category, Winters Coffee needs to create a reason for people to think it’s better than the (pervasive) competition. Consumer generated media is one alternative. A quick search on Google Blogs shows over 2.3m results with the word “coffee” in it, but just 104 with the phrase “coffee fanatic”. Technorati’s “coffee” tag shows a list of posts, blogs and related tags such as “fair trade”. One coffee blog, Single Serve Coffee, made it to Feedster’s Top 500 list last August. There are thousands and thousands of coffee fanatics. Winters Coffee should spend some time researching the top blogs and engaging in their conversations.  By becoming part of the coffee dialog Winters will position itself as distinct from large, impersonal brands.
 

Make a Case for Winters Coffee

The Winters Coffee site is a transaction engine. It tells you how to buy their coffee, but it doesn’t tell you why. Every good salesman knows that you have to get the prospect hooked before you can reel them in. The Winters Coffee site should tell the story about why its coffee is great. There are a number of different angles to pick for this from the fair trade/sustainable earth message, to the small vendor/high quality pitch, to latte art. Winters should experiment with positioning in some of its blog posts and see what resonates with coffee fanatics. Then redesign the site to tell a compelling version of that story.
 

Find Some Friends

One of the greatest advantages F1000 corporations have is the ability to leverage effective partnerships to develop joint promotions. Companies use this approach to enter new markets, increase customer loyalty and defray sales and marketing costs. The Internet and the blogosphere offer small and medium sized enterprises the opportunity to create joint marketing programs with similar benefits. A few weeks ago Diva Marketing introduced me to a very cool service: Gourmet Station. Gourmet Station packages elegant meals with international themes and ships them straight to your door. Thanks to the good work of Diva Marketing, they’ve had terrific media coverage with rave reviews of the service. Many of their meals include coffee service. Winters Coffee should consider approaching Gourmet Station about a test program. If their coffee is all that and a bag of beans it will surely be a terrific addition to Gourmet Station’s elegant presentation. This kind of partnership would provide Winters Coffee with exposure nationally and to consumers who already are ordering food online.

  (Note: Diva Marketing posted recently about the difference between blogs for small upstarts and major corporations.  This post should also provide some great ideas to Winters Coffee for their own blog.)

So how about it? Valentine’s Day is coming and I know my husband isn’t prepared. How about a Gourmet Station meal to go with my two pounds of joe? 

Technorati Tags:

Coffee Marketing Marketing Strategy

Comments

[Toby]

Leslie - thanks for sharing your ideas and insights; as always, you make it seem so easy and seamless.

Appreciate your kind words about GourmetStation. GS has a special discount for Diva Marketer readers and of course I'm happy to share with MarketerBlog readers. $10 off any product thru 2/14/06. Use the code - divava106. Happy Valentine's Day!

[Donna Lynes-Miller]

Leslie, thank you for reviewing GourmetStation and for giving us good marks. You are right about the blog relationships doing on a smaller level what large corporations have always done. Thanks to Toby and her great networking skills, our blog (and subsequent media exposure) has raised awareness of our brand. Thank you again for the positive post.

[Leslie]

Donna & Toby -- It's easy to give a good review to a great idea. Gourmet Station is at the nexus of several of my favorite concepts: social networking, e-commerce and gourmet food. Keep up the great work! I'm dropping hints to my honey for Valentine's Day. ~ Leslie