The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Brand and Marketing

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The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf brand building

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is an American coffee and tea retailer that is operated and owned by the International Coffee & Tea, LLC. It was started in 1963 by Herbert Hyman who wanted to pursue a dedication to excellence and quality in coffee making. Since then, the franchise has grown in leaps and bounds becoming the oldest and the largest privately owned and family run coffee and tea company in the United States and one of the largest businesses of its kind in the world (The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, 2012).

In accordance with the five steps applied in brand building, according to the Brandz’s Brand Dynamics Pyramid Model, company has managed to achieve organizational goals and success in business. According to this model, the building of company’s brand involves five steps.

The implementation of each step depends on and follows the successful accomplishment of the previous step. The first step is presence, which deals with whether the customers know about the product or they are completely unaware of its production and services. The second step is relevance, which deals with whether the product offers value to the customers or they consider it of no use to them. The third step is about performance where the main concern is if the product can be delivered. The fourth step involves advantage, which means considering if the product offers something better than other products provide in the market. The last step is bonding which ensures that nothing surpasses the product.

The customers that are at the top level are known as bonded consumers. These are consumers who build strong relationships with a certain brand spending more on it than other consumers at low levels. However, since a majority of consumers are found in the lower levels, brand marketers are challenged to develop programs and activities that assist consumers to move up to the next levels (Kotler, Keller, Ang, Leong, & Tan, 2009).

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf has made numerous efforts to achieve the brand strength using that five-step model. Herbert Hyman started the brand in the United States in 1963, building it on a handcrafted feel and flavour by blending and roasting coffee varieties to gain the customers liking and meet their expectations. The brand began its expansion in 1980 ensuring its growth throughout Southern California.

The relevant step can be seen in the way the brand started to offer whole bean coffees and loose-leaf teas that are hand-picked in California – that was something that could only be found in Europe. At the beginning, the company would prepare samples to let the customers have a feeling of their aromas and flavours. The brand later developed the specialty coffee and tea boutique into a full coffeehouse (Schmitt & Rodgers, 2008).

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has achieved the third level in terms of its performance as its products can be delivered globally as the company spread its services overseas. Initially, the brand had been known only in the US, but later, it began a worldwide expansion in 1996. It opened outlets in Singapore and Malaysia. It is today among the largest coffee chains in the world. At the fourth step, which is about the advantage, the products offered are better than other products as seen in their pioneering formulations.

The company had a beverage known as Original Ice Blended, which stated the craze for a frozen coffee drink, which is now famous all over the world. The retailer also created proprietary powders, such as Special Dutch Chocolate Powders, and French Deluxe Vanilla. The brand is now a leading global outfit fulfilling the last step of bonding (Kumar, 2007).

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf implementation of “internalization” under the holistic marketing concept

A holistic marketing orientation provides insight into the customer’s value-capturing process. On the other hand, value creation is about developing more value offerings. Finally, value delivery concerns a brand using its infrastructure and capacities to suggest new value offerings (Kumar, 2007). In internalization, brands must adopt an internal perspective in considering the steps to take in ensuring that marketing partners and employees understand basic branding notions. Internal branding refers to processes and activities that assist in inspiring and informing employees (Edwards & Day, 2005).

In accordance with the holistic market concept, the company has successfully implemented internalization. One of the reasons for this is seen in the way the company recruits, trains, and treats its employees. Applicants must be over sixteen years old and be able to present their applications in a professional manner. They then receive standard training aimed at familiarizing them with brand’s procedures, equipment, and products.

The brand also offers growth and learning opportunities to workers showing hard work and having a good potential. Another reason is the way the company provides a similar commitment type to their customers, employees, and the community. The brand is dedicated to the provision of excellent products, prompting the management to put effort in employing quality workers (Kotler, & Pfoertsch, 2006).

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf adopted branding strategy in the launch of a new product

In March 2011, the company launched their new single serve beverage system machine. The branding strategy applied in this launch links internal marketing with external one. The machine incorporates modern technology and allows consumers to brew their favourite beverage at any location. According to Kapferer (2008), the advantage of such a step is that it ensures that public perception of the brand is changed in the market.

Prior to the launch of the machine, the public perceived the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf brand as the one which serves its products in restaurants. With the launch of new equipment, this perception was ruined, as the customers can now brew their favourite Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf beverage at any location. For example, a customer who buys that machine can brew his/her favourite drink staying at home. In addition, the machine simplifies the process of brewing high quality beverages.

In contrast, there was a stereotype that such process was complicated and could only be done by the trained employees. Perhaps, the only disadvantage is that the strategy involves a totally new approach that many consumers are not familiar with. Consequently, it might take some time before it becomes popular and sells units (Sinkovics, & Ghauri, 2009).

Marketing recommendations for the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

One marketing recommendation that the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf can adopt is to become multilingual. According to Kotler, Keller, Ang, Leong, & Tan (2009), while company can have smooth running of business in numerous countries by speaking a popular language like, say, English, it can have an edge by hiring workers who speak the language. For instance, the company has outlets in Singapore and Malaysia, but the workers who are employed in these outlets communicate to customers only in English. This does not only cause a communication hiccup between employees and customers, but also stalls potential customers who shy away from buying the products as they do not speak English. This is especially prevalent in outlets located in non-English speaking countries.

The company is recommended to employ workers speaking the national languages of the respective countries in which the outlet is located. In addition, the management should initiate communication with customers using the local languages. Another recommendation is to become more eco-friendly. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf should specialize in selling coffee and tea beverages, as opposed to including other products and beverages.

By doing so, the company will dominate its niche, specializing in what it best produces. As its name suggests, the company is best suited to selling coffee and tea. This will enable the company to benefit from accepting such a strategy as it will also include helping the brand market aggressively (Kotler, Keller, Ang, Leong, & Tan, 2009).

References

Edwards, H. & Day, Derek. (2005). Creating Passion Brands: Getting to the Heart of Branding. New Jersey: Kogan Page Publishers.

Kapferer, J. (2008). The New Strategic Brand Management: Creating and Sustaining Brand Equity Long Term 4th edition. New Jersey: Kogan Page Publishers.

Kotler, P. & Pfoertsch, W. (2006). B2B Brand Management. New York: Springer.

Kotler, P., Keller, K., Ang, S.H., Leong, S.M., & Tan C. T. (2009). Marketing Management: An Asian Perspective (5th ed.). Singapore: Pearson Education.

Kumar, G.S.K. (2007). Handbook of Management Terms. New York, NY: ICFAI Books.

Schmitt, B & Rodgers, D.L. (2008). Handbook on Brand and Experience Management. New York, NY: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Sinkovics, R.R. & Ghauri, P.N. (2009). New Challenges to International Marketing. Los Angeles, CA: Emerald Group Publishing.

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. (2012). About The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Official Store. Web.

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