VALPARAISO, Ind. -- Family Express is taking aim squarely at Starbucks with its latest TV commercial.
Following the rollout of Franke espresso dispensers to all of its 60 convenience stores in its new Europrean Café concept, Family Express has launched an ambitious marketing campaign centered on TV ads and a social-media campaign.
The European Café concept is a high-end program that takes on traditional made-to-order coffee, fashioning it to the convenience channel, Family Express president Gus Olympidis told CSP in September.
“Our industry is blaming McDonald’s or Dunkin’ for taking away [our coffee] business, but the future goes beyond what we’re offering today,” he said. “Our customers—the females, millennials—have moved to another frontier.”
The chain’s new equipment takes the barista out of the coffee-shop equation, allowing customers to create self-serve mochas, lattes and iced coffee drinks.
That barista interaction—and the long lines it can create—is the focus of the TV ad, which shows a woman’s coffee order becoming more and more complicated—and expensive—without ever opening her mouth. (See video below.)
Meanwhile, the chain’s “Which Brew Are You?” quiz takes the form of a social-media mainstay: the personality quiz.
After choosing your shoe, housing and vacation preferences, the program calculates which coffee drink is the most like you. (I’m an iced latte.)
Participants are encouraged to share their results on Facebook and Twitter, and rewarded with a coupon for a free complimentary espresso beverage from Family Express.
Valparaiso, Ind.-based Family Express operates 60 convenience stores in 31 northwest and north central Indiana cities.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.