Clearly's MD quoted in the Daily Mail: Costa Coffee - a brand in crisis?
Why is Coca-Cola poised to sell off the UK’s biggest coffee chain at rock bottom price? Simple: this was this a major brand misstep and PR flop.
In 2019, Coca-Cola bought Costa Coffee for £3.9 billion. Now it has plans to sell the UK’s biggest high street coffee brand for a around half that price – £2 billion to be precise. So, is this the result of a dramatic deterioration in brand perception, or an outright abandonment of the Costa Coffee brand among UK coffee consumers?
Paul MacKenzie-Cummins, Clearly’s Founder & Managing Director, shared his views with the Daily Mail and MailOnline.
Read full article on MailOnline:
Or, you can read Paul’s published quote in full just here:
“It feels to me that the misfortunes that are affecting Costa Coffee will soon be felt by some of the competitors as consumers appear to be rejecting the big brand concept in favour of small brand experience.
“When I think of Costa Coffee from a brand perspective, the words that come to my mind are those of a bland, sterile, and dare I say ‘cheap’ coffee experience. They are everywhere – the high street, the local petrol station or convenience store, and the motorway service station.
“It is akin to dating: if someone is always there and always available whenever you want them to be, it can become a turn off. Customers have simply been turned off by the omnipresence of Costa Coffee.
“Compare this to the smaller independent coffee shops and it quickly becomes apparent why this sector of the industry is booming.
“Indeed, take a walk around our hometown of Bath and there is a plethora of independent coffee stores on every street. Each is different and all provide customers with an experience they would not get from a traditional high street chain.
“Some will be specialist coffee houses, others will be known for their artisan offering or quirky physical environment. Whatever that difference is, it will create a clear emotional connection with customers and have a certain amount of social currency that is able to drive word of mouth – the most powerful form of PR there is.
“‘It’ will also be the reason why these same customers will be prepared to pay more for their oat flat white at an independent coffee shop than in the likes of Costa Coffee.”
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