Caffeinexperience

Found this interesting kiosk at a Cafe Coffee Day outlet in Bangalore. The Smart Digital Jukebox allows you to choose and play a song of your choice in the cafe. An interactive touch screen interface where you can browse from tens of thousands of songs and list them in the player. Then get back to your sit, enjoy your coffee and relax.

Cafe Coffee Day as a brand is very popular and enough has been written about them. Innovative marketing approach by CCD aka the 'Indian Starbucks' has made Coffee Day, the meeting, mating, greeting, relaxing, chilling zone for youngsters.

Probably the most innovative marketing programme of Coffee Day is doing co-promotion with other brands and space selling within the store. Coffee Day runs several successful in-store promotions for popular brands like Levi's, Fast Track, Radio City, Airtel and Sony Ericsson just to name a few.

On the flip side over the years CCD has become too commercial a space and youngsters have started gathering at places like Java City, Mocha of the world. Therefore, the CCD coffee experience of 'A lot can happen over coffee' is no more unique. Java City for example offers great service, great ambiance and live music. Mocha offers great food and an excellent puff of Hukkah.

Smart Digital Jukebox is one of the many things CCD is doing to get people back. I was wondering in a service category like Coffee Chains there are so many me too brands, how can one differentiate and remain relevant to today's disloyal and cynical young ones. Coffee Day, Coffee World, Java City, Java Green, Barista, Mocha, Qwicky's are some of the popular coffee retail chains at the moment. Starbucks will enter India soon. What will these brands do then? Good Coffee, ambiance, service, food, music are generic and given for this category. Together they sum up as a 'great coffee experience.' What more can they offer? When everybody starts offering the same 'great coffee experience,' will price become a deciding factor. Or will chains re-arrange themselves as premium and value chains.

Any caffeinated opinions from anyone?