MMS RR #1 - BB Coffee - Grade: A- PDF

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9/7/18 Reading Response #1: Beyu Blue Coffee

The first aspect of Beyu Blue Coffee that defines its lack of market success on campus is an essential component of a business and something generally built over a longer period of time – brand loyalty. One of the largest reasons for Joe Van Gogh’s previous success on Duke’s campus happened to be that customers were familiar with the Joe Van Gogh brand, and with the personable baristas who worked there - some who even remembered certain students and their go-to coffee order. The “people” aspect of the 4 Ps not only refers to the customer, but also to the employees who work at the establishment and the interactions between both groups. Beyu Blue has a less personal connection with students due to its short time on campus thus far. Another nuance that has been recognized is that Beyu Blue’s prospective customers simply feel more comfortable going to a well-known competitor, such as West Union’s CaFe or Perkins Library, for their morning cup of joe because of stability, familiarity, and personable interactions with the staff who remember them from previous years. Beyu Blue has not showcased any extraneous factor that would allow it to genuinely compete with other tried and true shops. Another aspect that ties to brand loyalty, especially on a college campus, is community engagement. Joe Van Gogh used this aspect incredibly effectively at Duke. They established themselves as a community coffee shop by showcasing event boards in their café for university groups and locals to post on, attracting other members to read it whilst waiting for their drinks. Groups would use this board because they were certain it would gain some kind of traction, as JVG was one of Duke’s go-to coffee spots located in a concentrated area of campus. Beyu Blue lacks the community importance that contributed to JVG’s success, and their “place,” or location of commerce is irrelevant in terms of their success because they are located in the exact same

space as JVG was. The Bryan Center plaza is almost always buzzing with students on their journey to and from Science Drive and it sits right next to the Duke bookstore, where families who are touring the institution inevitably end up to purchase their latest basketball jersey or hat. Regardless of this incredible opportunity presented by their location, Beyu Blue has promoted nothing to encourage community engagement. Some students would also argue that Beyu Blue is an average coffee shop; this is a word that no entity wants to be associated with. JVG placed specific importance on collaborating with local Durham bakeries to sell a wider range of baked goods, making sure that the consumer knew their piece of pumpkin bread came specifically from ‘X’ shop around the area. This demonstrates another way in which JVG obtained community engagement, not exclusively with Duke students, but also to the larger Durham business community. The simple act of contracting outside vendors to sell at their campus location was an effective and inadvertent method of showing support and encouragement towards other local businesses that may not have had as many customers or resources to grow from just yet. In turn, outside smaller businesses gained traction themselves just by having their goods being featured in JVG’s display case. This contributed to positive feedback from the B2B customers as well as the B2C customers. It was unique because not only would consumers be able to purchase JVG products, they were also open to buying a vegan bran muffin from a certain shop off campus that other coffee vendors on Duke’s campus did not offer – something Beyu Blue might consider. Although Beyu Blue may not have an expansive list of bakery items, one area they can use to their advantage is their specialty beverages. The promotion of these beverages is understated and many customers will even assume, without looking at the menu, that these specialties don’t exist because they are not featured or advertised properly. This realm could very

well be used as a starting point for Beyu Blue to establish itself on campus, but in order for this to occur, the shop’s promotion methods need to be redesigned. Hosting events or distributing samples of these drinks on the BC plaza would use their advantageous location of commerce to gain customer traction. Consumers will never be loyal to a brand if they do not have it clear that this brand will deliver the product they desire in a new and unique way, a better way than their competitors. The way to fix this is simply investing in a week of free samples and advertising this well across campus through signs, emails to students announcing the event, and most effectively, the Beyu Blue staff handing out these samples personally, proving to students and professors that they do care about their customers and want them to have the best experience possible when interacting with the café. If they establish programs used in their local Durham cafés such as Jazz Night on the BC plaza, possibly selling discounted beverages to attract new customers, the café can begin to pick up speed in obtaining brand loyalty with their constituents. This will at least begin to elicit a reactive response from those who walk Duke’s campus every day. Hopefully, with time, baristas there will come to recognize students and consequently, build on their consumer loyalty as trust is built over time....