'Coupons and discounts will not make them stick'

Bidisha Nagaraj, group president -- marketing, Coffee Day Global, who re-joined the organisation in January 2015 after five years as independent consultant, is keen that the brand stays top of mind.

 

Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), a division of Coffee Day Global, began operations in 1996, and currently runs over 1,500 cafes, 42 'Lounges', and seven 'Squares' across the country. The brand's competition in recent years have been from the likes of no less than Starbucks.

 

Nagaraj said, “As we go forward, we have a clear strategy of how we are going to address our consumer. We have a more long-term view of the brand. Which is, bringing in an emotional connect between the brand and the consumer, and staying top of mind. Short-term realisation of the brand  is to make sure that the consumer keeps coming back to my store. We have tools that we are looking at for meeting both these goals.” 

 

Changes on the menu and offers and games are par for the course. So are discounts to consumers at the end of some of these engagement devices, across brands today. Nagaraj underlined the importance of creating unique experiences. 

 

“We are more than food and beverage entity. The good news is consumer has lot more choice. Whichever brand can engage the consumer emotionally, is the brand that will stick. Coupons and discounts will not make them stick. Our ambience of cafes has changed to provide a different experience. We are trying to understand the consumer a lot better with our new CRM. When we understand consumer better, we can serve them better,” she explained.

 

The new CRM system helps the brand profile the consumer deeper, helping customise offers and discounts even better, she added. 

 

The last TVC from the brand was in 2012. Post that, it has been seeking to engage with its TG through digital. As Nagaraj points out, the brand is studying youth's entertainment consumption. 

 

“They are more on the digital space, and mostly on mobile. These are the areas we are actively looking at. Digital is yet another medium, and it forms a bigger focus now than in the last 10 years simply because our TG hangs out on that medium. Everything is done through an app. A TVC does not guarantee emotional bonding or engagement,” she said, adding that CCD was looking at 'enriching' its app now.