Sending the Wrong Message

It’s funny. In my small town, we have two coffee shops plus a Dunkin Donuts. The two shops require lots of extra waiting. One of them has probably the worst service I’ve ever experienced. That’s the one that people line up out the door to attend. The people there are inefficient; they don’t remember you, even if you’ve been there every day for 4 months; they don’t do anything to differentiate you from anyone else. And yet, they have the huge line.

My Dunkin’s? They do okay, but never mobbed.

been a while i didn’t post a comment here… as things were hectic, but always keeping an eye on chris blog….

yes it is true “lines” are not always bad, sometimes it is worth waiting in a queue for a special taste, service, quality, and so many other reasons, depends on the product. at the same time, ppl like to go out and relax, or have a fast service so they avoid to be in queue and feel relaxed even if it was on the favor of the product/service.

cheers!

And, as I said a few hours ago, “too good for me to not blog a response.”

Context is critical: Where is your customer’s attention?
http://crittjarvis.com/archives/724

And Ari, thanks for confirming my suspicion our coffee cup logo color currently doesn’t evoke Cumberland Farms recognition.

actually, i agree with jay. lines make me think something is wrong, and/or that people are just going there because they read/heard somewhere it’s good but if i allow myself to be swayed i’m only going to end up thinking it was totally overrated, which has happened enough now that i’d know not to even bother unless it’s a place i already trust.

Chris -

Great point. No matter what you say, I still really hate the DMV (Dept of Motor Vehicles).

Jon

We live in a niched world. I think for many, (not among this group of course) gas station coffee is good enough and lines are an unnecessary hassle. This ad definitely won’t appeal to those who have a social relationship with their barista, but there’s a whole world out there that’s surviving just fine without Starbucks. No, really.

I’m not so sure if this is the wrong message. I think it’s a good time and place placement. “Hey, while you’re getting gas, why not drop in and get coffee too.” That’s how I look at it. I really don’t think too many people would equate that message with the idea that if there is no line, it must be bad coffee.

This is a fascinating discussion. It just goes to show you how much this kind of thing really drills down to individual attitudes and preferences.

For instance, the type of person that loves to be seen at the jam-packed club that no one can get into is the polar opposite of the type of person who is kind of anti-establishment and wouldn’t be caught dead at any such club.

So you have to ask yourself: which group is this ad trying to appeal to? Which group does it consider to be its core cusomer? I bet we can all agree that it’s trying to appeal more to the latter group, the group that doesn’t much care if something is trendy or popular, the group that considers a cup of coffee a utilitarian necessity, not a specialty destination beverage. That being the case, I’d say the ad is sending the right message to the right audience.

I don’t know, gas + coffee to me = crappy gassy coffee. Also, if you’ve waited in line at a gas station because homefry behind the counter can’t open the roll of quarters, a snotty baby is crying in your ear from the ugo lady tapping her foot behind you, the floor is wet from a spilled slushie and Michael McDonald is blaring “yamobethere,” the irritation level is FAR higher than waiting 2 minutes in an environment like Starbucks.

I think a message along the lines of “we’ve improved our coffee line and now serve free trade mild blend, fresh every hour” (or whatever) I’d do a happy dance but equating NOT WAITING IN LINE as a value is not sufficient.

Wow, I didn’t realize how much I loved lines until I read this.

Lines can also indicate,
- Hey, we’ve got staffing issues
- We’v'e got issues with check out and payment
- We’ve got issues with an inexperienced front end manager
- We’re the big bad retailer and we don’t care about your customer experience, so you’re going to stand in a line.

Demand! Demand! Demand?
How you create it makes your ad worth printing.

I find totally pointless your observation.

The fact is that nobody likes a line, in many cases they will tolerate it because of the reward they will be getting once they touch down.

While I agree that a line might send a message like: “hey, you are missing something good everybody else seems to enjoy or expect” or even could work as a “quality indicator”, does a line during a rush hour indicates so?

Insightful thought and it brings up the good question of unintentional messages. However, I have to say that maybe I’m just too dumb to have seen the unintentional message in that sign without you pointing it out. I do agree that buzz is a good thing but if I saw that sign I’d think, “Oh cool, no lines!” Guess that’s why I read your blog…so I can be inspired with thoughts I don’t think of myself! Thanks!

Okay, late to the party –
But I am right in the middle of “writing the lines” for my own startup and I am thinking this –
Whatever I say/do is meant to attract my “target market” isn’t it? And as long as it attracts my target market and I am doing business, does it matter that what I am saying does not make sense to someone outside my target?

I am not implying that these people analyzed their target market though ;) but Starbucks certainly does all of that and more when they introduce “cheaper instant coffee” and call it something else :)

I like it, keeping it nice and simple. I must say that the first thing that I thought was the reference to Cocaine lines and that there was some link with coffee being better! I Suppose a sign can mean many different thing!

Chris,

This is so true. Obviously, people do not like the long, long lines that never seem like they are moving. I think this is what the sign meant. Nonetheless, as you touched on, a moderate line that is moving will peak customer curiousity because the product seems to be in demand and the wait will not be what seem like forever. I think the key is to think messages over very carefully and bounce the message off a few people for feedback and get their reactions. A group of opinions is better than one and this could serve as a test drive, so to speak.

Keep up the excellent work.

Nice.

Got me thinking about our customer support. Reminds me of something I realized about sending an unintentional message…that maybe being too reassuring of our support that it was sending a message that they were gonna need it.

I’d also wait in a bit of a line, though, for the good coffee.

This example reminds me of when I was learning to ride a motorcycle – in the UK, part of the proficiency test is to perform a 180-degree turn on the road.

When I was learning the manouvre, I failed it 2 out of every 3 times until I realized I was suffering from target fixation. I was focusing my eyes on the opposite kerb rather than where I wanted my bike to end the manouvre.

The author of this ad shouldn’t have been concerned with lines – they’re not the problem. Perhaps saying that the coffee tastes great, such as “Coffee better than Starbucks”, would have been the right thing to say.

Oops – didn’t mean to put all that in bold type!

Maybe this for Farmhouse?

‘Picture of coffee”
Its not cheap or good but its fast!

Will they pay me for this?

Chris and friends,
Your comments have been especially informative, helpful in pushing me to learn more about Cumberland Farms, my part time employer.

Inspired by the comment of Martin Burns, I did some business research using Google, to find answers to his questions.

First question:, “I’m wondering why (if coffee isn’t that high-margin compared to other products) they’re trying to compete with coffee shops that have long lines (assuming the mean Starbucks & Dunkin’ Doughnuts)?”

I didn’t find an open source answer for “why,” but I bet Tim Foley at Full Contact Advertising knows. His public LinkedIn profile, which I found using Google, shows Cumberland Farms as one of his accounts.

Second question, “Have they decided to throw in the towel when it comes to competing with the Exxon’s of the world?”

Google was really helpful in providing me relevant links to how Cumberland Farms competes with the “Exxon’s of the world,” but the answer was so complete that I just had to blog it:
Joe Petrowski’s resilient leadership: vision, plan, execution

Hope this is helpful to you :)