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CoffeeCompany’s Free WIFI Woes

 

Posted on February 11, 2009
Jessica Hartstein

 

While US coffee shops are known for their cozy couches and customers who, after purchasing one cup of joe, spend hours at a time reading newspapers, preparing presentations, writing papers, and chatting with friends, the European coffee shop culture is quite different. In many cases, the coffee shop seats are often uncomfortable enough to get you in and out without much hassle. Europeans also pop into family owned cafés for tiny and powerful espressos, often getting stared down if they spend more than 30 minutes without purchasing a second drink.

A Dutch coffee shop recently started offering its customers free WIFI, only to find out that the customers came and stayed for the WIFI and bought very little (just like we pesky US consumers do!). The Dutch company, called CoffeeCompany, decided to take the situation into its own hands and find a way to encourage customers to get off their tushes and to buy something: sending hints through the Internet network.

How exactly did CoffeeCompany use the Internet network? It put the CoffeeCompany menu in the WIFI menu, available on laptops and WIFI enabled cell phones. Additionally, every once in a while the coffee shop changes the name of the wireless network from CoffeeCompany to less than subtle requests for purchases: HaveYouTriedTheCarrotCake?, Mmm…YummyMuffinOnly2Euro, BuyCoffeeForCuteGirlOverThere?, TodaysSpecialEspresso1,60Euro, etc., etc.

An interesting new way of mobile marketing. Imagine the scenario: customer asks, “What is the name of the network?” and the barista’s reply is, “BuyAnotherCupYouCheapskate.” Tactful is certainly not the first word that comes to my mind in describing this campaign. I’m not sure how effective the tactics have been. Personally, if I went to a place that kept changing the network name on me and telling me things like, “OrderAnotherCoffeeAlready,” I’d probably leave much sooner than I expected to and not be going back. Maybe the goal is to get the freeloaders like me out, though. If so, mission accomplished.

How would you react to this kind of in your face pressure? Are US coffee shops missing out on lots of money because customers come, buy one cup, and then stay so long the couches start forming to their butts? Or, do US customers head to coffee shops more often thanks to their inviting nature?

A few months ago, the Hamburg airport saw a similar campaign run by rental car company, SIXT and the JVM Hamburg agency. In this case the tame network names were: Drive instead of surf, SIXT airport specials, and BMW 3 starting at €159. The operation was so successful that it has also been put into place in other airports across Germany. Here’s a quick video explaining the operation:

I love the concept of having free Internet access at the airport, where we are cooped up for hours waiting for delayed airplanes, on layovers, etc. It’s also foreigner friendly as few foreigners randomly passing through an aiport are likely to have an access card to a paid airport Internet service. As no one is calling out to us to buy anything (like more and more coffees, cheapskate) and the network names are informative and not tongue-in-cheek, I would more than happily put up with this marketing campaign for the free WIFI use at the airport. And hey, if I ever want to rent a car in Germany, I just might use SIXT to thank them for their service!

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Comments

1. Wednesday 11 February 2009 attime 18:04, by M.A.

JVM Hamburg did the same thing only the client was Sixt, the car rental company. Look it up.

2. Thursday 12 February 2009 attime 10:20, by Jessica Hartstein

Thank you for the information on the JVM SIXT operation. We’ve now included this campaign in our article.

3. Thursday 12 February 2009 attime 22:11, by mirjan :: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.c...

I think all the media buzz Coffee Company got from this action last year was probably more important than any customers it motivated or turned off. It probably cost like zilch. And it made international news. In PR we call that ’mana from heaven.’

4. Wednesday 4 March 2009 attime 18:14,

the rental car idea is also nice but doesn’t really make sense if you think it through. cuz you pick up a rental car at your destination. but you surf the web while waiting for you your departure or layover. Once you’ve arrived you just wanna get the hell out of there. Not surf the web.

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