Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Hi JM,

Starbucks sells coffee machines and coffee (roasted and ground), and their brand promotes the idea of drinking coffee.

How are you planning to position your brand relative to the Starbucks brand?

Steve

Get in touch with the hosts of local networking events, and see if you can sponsor an event, and bring plenty of machines & coffee, to let all the attendees play with and serve themselves. Make sure you have plenty of brochures, business cards, and can work the crowd. A good source for events is https://meetup.com

Can consumers actually create their own blends of coffee to be sealed in your coffee pods? If so, this is a great industry story to pitch to the media and share with the public, since it is different from what other manufacturers are doing.

There's so much competition in the coffee marketplace. The key to success is to appeal to your customers so that they are drawn to buy your products and not the others. Be creative. Share why you're different and better every time you have an opportunity, and prove it via sampling and the simplicity and easy-cleaning(?) of your machine.

What's special/different about your machines?
Who specifically are you trying to sell to?
Why should they switch to your machine?

Your product sounds much like the Keurig machines and K cups. Is it similar?

If so, Keurigs are retail machines that allow diversity of hot drink products - coffee, tea, coca, etc. Will your equipment have the same flexibility?

So if you were to line all the similar in home coffee equipment, where would yours stand in the ranking? Is it possible to develop a comparison piece which emphasizes your key benefits over the others?

The capsules...must one buy them already filled with the coffee/tea? If so, where can they be purchased? If you have a generic capsule that allows one to fill it and re-use, would regular coffee grounds acceptable or is there a special blend requirement?

Will you sell on line or in retail outlets? Gevalia is one to look as a competitor if on line. They basically provide the coffee maker if you buy so much coffee.

First, I would really research the market of competitors. See how they approach the market and whom they are targeting - both for equipment and coffee.

Second, do some sampling. See how your products stack up against the competition. Perhaps at community events (like suggested in an earlier response)..taste test.

From the second, see if you can find a pattern with those that favor your coffee & equipment...gender, age, income levels, etc.

Based on the previous, begin to design a campaign which address your difference, your market...and test ideas...

I am a coffee drinker and I love the Paul Newman medium blend k cups. The aroma from the brewing alone is enticing and the bold taste, excellent. Then, I drink my coffee black so I like it strong.

Good luck with your promotion.

Trying to think like a coffee drinker is tough these days. There are purists who grind their own coffee and brew a fresh cup every time. On the other end of the spectrum, you've got people who drink those frilly, sugar-enriched gut-busters from Starbucks.

Think about your target market. If it's for coffee snobs, then how is your product going to deliver a cup of coffee that is an improvement over what they're doing now?

If it's for people who like flavored coffees, then how is your product different than what's already available?

If you can't come up with any significant differences or advantages, you can always take the Dos Equis / Old Spice approach. Find a way to relate your product to a primal emotion within your audience.

For example, can you somehow imply (like the Old Spice guy) that drinking coffee with your machine will help a guy attract beautiful women? Or, that someone who uses your machine is FAR more interesting than those dull folks who use Mr. Coffee machines.

Whatever direction you take, use content marketing and social media to get the word out, unless you can afford advertising. You can also use targeted media ads that direct people to a clever or fun set of videos you've made.

Good luck. Sounds like fun.

Hi JM,

Many coffee vendor machines with great brand name are existing. But many small vendors who r using those vendor machines r misusing the brand names for the sake of their profits. Instead of maintaining Quality, they r adding more water. So Design machine in such a way that it occupies only a specific qty of water, milk etc ingredients which ensures quality n helps to create and promote ur brand with no compromise in Quality.
This represents ur brand.

All the best......................