The Objective

Globally the brand had been repositioned with a change in visual identity, the store map, and with a push towards a coffee-first premise. In India, the brand was on the path to embrace this new identity and approach. Indian Cafe culture and space had seen an observable shift with many new players such as Blue Tokai and The Third Wave challenging the behemothic Starbucks. The ask then was to get a holistic understanding of market realities, subliminal needs, and motives to create an impactful brand story rooted in Indian culture and yet in alignment with an overarching global philosophy.

The Strategy Unfolded

Culture chronicling was at the heart of this work wherein our team hung out with teens and young adults at various cafes and eating joints to understand the needs and need gaps from such places.

Holistic understanding, through the perceptual and experiential lens, was done to uncover the sensorial signatures and mental maps of competition brands. The residual memory of our brand from its previous avatar and the slow metamorphosis into the new identity was understood by looking at the new values and emergent codes slowly getting infused into its identity.

The Impact

Our work brought alive India-specific insights on into cafe culture and the intersection of the same with the new identity the brand was aiming to build for itself. The work provided inputs into elements of the physical store; specific occasions, moods and need states that the brand can build itself on.