Strategy: Cuppa Cafe

Coffee in India
• 1930’s: Brought in by the British
– Habit caught over amongst upper class
Brahmins
• Spreads across South India
• Mess’s / Restaurants serve Coffee
– Raayars Mess, Chennai (1942)
– Served in Daavra Tumbler
 Barista
• First to spot opportunity
• Started in 1999
• 25 cities, 200 outlets
– 1 new outlet every week
– Moving to Dubai, Sri Lanka, Malaysia
etc.
• Major Supplier – Tata Coffee
• Product:
– Coffee
– Merchandise (1/4th of revenues)
• Pricing: Market Skimming
– 3 reductions in last 2 years
– Still premium to CCD
• Process: self-service
• Profile: Age 18-30, students,
professionals
• Brand Image – where the world
meets
– Smooth, Sophisticated
• People: Pleasant, Polite, Positive
• Physical Evidence
– Earthy Orange, Brown
• Promotions: (no media)
– Sponsorships (events, college festivals)
– no cash
– Collaborations (Leo Mattle – Scrabble,
Star World), Cr. Cards
• Training
– Induction
– Refresher (every 2 months)
– Promotions from within
– Appraisal every quarter
– Employee Turnover – 10%
 Café Coffee Day
• Amalgamated Coffee Company – 1870
• USP – Grow own Coffee, affordable, winner
of platinum, gold, silver medals at Barista
Championship
• Products:
– Coffee
– Merchandise
• Process: Delievered to the table
• Profile
– 20-24 yrs – 37%
– 25-29 yrs – 27%
• Brand Image
– Cool place to hang out
– Invigorating, Young
• Pricing
– Lower than Barista (keeping target in
mind)
– No changes recently (other than for
taxes)
• Physical Evidence:
– Red, White, Green (leaf)
• Literature: Café Beat
• Promotions
– TV: Friends
– Tie-ups with channels (inc. Channel V)
• Get Gorgeous
– Event tickets
– FMCG – Liril, Scooty, Airtel ‘friends’
Recruitment
• Training – 12 days
• Appraisal – every 6 months
• Turnover – 9%
Data
Cuppa Café
 P&G: 1 Pager

Element Description
Who Consumer Segmentation,
Description, Needs
What Product, Features, Price

How Place, Promotion – Media,

Trade
 Cuppa Café
• Lack of Strategic Vision
– Where is the business going?
– How do we define the proposition?
– (Farzana: too bogged down with Franchisees)
• Desperately Need
– Brand Image
– Emotional connect
– Consistency
• Consumers - 'effortlessly cool, perhaps
professional, but certainly sophisticated‘
– Valuable insight
– Explains chic cafes, accessorised by Wi-Fi and
music lounges
• Do Consumer work, co-create
– Proposition
– Positioning
– Experience (e.g. CCD’s biggest area of
improvement)
• Develop Competencies
– Retail market
– Systems, processes
– Franchisee managements etc.
• Bottom Line
– The consumer owns the brand
– As long as the consumer owns the
brand, the BM’s personal traits /
baggage, become irrelevant
– Create the Soul !!
 P&G: 1 Pager

Element Description
Who Consumer Segmentation,
Description, Needs
What Product, Features, Price

How Place, Promotion – Media,

Trade
How to change the world

- Food for thought

THANK YOU