There are a lot of coffee shops in this world.
In spite of this fact, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CB&TL) has managed to dominate the industry.
The brand is worth $500 million and has more than 1,000 branches in operation worldwide.
How did it reach such great heights? It’s fun and innovative market strategies seem to be the secret to its success.
1. #PurpleStrawCam – turned its iconic purple straws into Instagram filters
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf encouraged online users to turn its signature purple straws into Instagram filters. To recreate the stunt, followers must choose an ideal summer scenery, cut off an inch of the purple straw, place it at the lens of their smartphone and shoot. This leads to a #PurpleStrawCam effect as seen in the image below:
As expected, the social media campaign resulted into tons of scenic user-generated images with the hashtag #PurpleStrawCam.
2. #SlurpCarols – created a unique rendition of “Deck The Halls”
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf collaborated with WONGDOODY to create the #SlurpCarols campaign.
Keep up the slurps. Post a video of you slurping your drink with #SlurpCarols & #PurpleStraw to be in our megamix. pic.twitter.com/F3DG8Mqik7
— The Coffee Bean (@TheCoffeeBean) December 22, 2015
The brand asked its followers to post videos of themselves slurping using CB&TL’s iconic purple straw. It then combined these short clips to create a rendition of customers slurping to the tune of “Deck the Halls”.
“The slurp carols are a fun and simple way for fans to connect with The Coffee Bean for the holidays,” shared Pam Fujimoto, Executive Creative Director, WONGDOODY. “And it’s a way to create seasonal content for the brand entirely through fan submissions.”
Through the Slurp Carols campaign, CB&TL is able to encourage its followers to engage with the brand and create unique videos that can attract audiences.
3. Brew Your Best Year – launched an inspirational campaign
CB&TL launched the Brew Your Best Year campaign, which aimed to inspire millennials to live the best version of themselves. The campaign consisted of short clips wherein inspirational millennials encourage others to live a fulfilling life by doing activities they loved.
The campaign’s website also encouraged customers to give back in a variety of ways. They could say “THANK YOU!” to their friends, family and mentors with coffee. After that, they could publish thoughtful thank you posts and get featured on the site. The brand also showed images wherein the brand treated loyal customers to their favorite coffee, surprised their employees with coffee packages, and gave free coffee to universities and offices.
The campaign was accompanied the release of The Giving Journal. The year-long journal contained inspirational posts and fulfilling activities that people could engage in, in order to brew their best year.
4. Publishes Local Content to Create Personalized Messages
CB&TL has more than 1,000 branches worldwide. So how does it publish local content? Simple, it uses MomentFeed to optimize its location data and local social media pages.
A look at the brand’s various Instagram feeds per country shows its commitment to create content that have local relevance and authenticity. Here’s the Instagram feed of CB&TL Hawaii:
“Our individual stores are the backbone of our company and it’s important for us to have a vehicle for our fans to check in or comment on a location that is a part of their daily lives,” said Patrice Anderson, Director of e-Commerce and Online Marketing for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, in an interview with Retail TouchPoints.
As a result of its efforts to create localized content, CB&TL has experienced an 83% monthly increase in social reach. Additionally, it increased local Facebook fans by 136%, increased social impressions by 46% and lifted local engagement per month by 26%.
5. Offers a Great In-Store Experience
One of the reasons why millennials thrive to CB&TL is because it offers a great in-store experience.
Source: misstamchiak
Customers can choose from a healthy menu and enjoy their time in a relaxing and aesthetic setting. It’s also pretty convenient place for work and meetings, since people can also enjoy a high-speed WiFi and charge their gadgets—at their own convenience.
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Here’s a recap of what we’ve learned from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s successes:
- Create a unique Instagram filter
- Offer a great in-store experience
- Publish localized content
- Create campaigns with inspirational messages
- Create unique user-generated content campaigns
