Cafe Coffee Day-The Brand For The Youth

It was a drizzly afternoon in my hometown and the ringing of my school bells marked the completion of the school hours for the day. The weather condition was blustery with howling winds and unusual turbulence. I was waiting for my school bus to come and pick me up. There were two hundred rupee notes in my pocket given by my grandfather at the beginning of the week as an integral part of my pocket expenses. The weather started deteriorating and my friend pushed me to take shelter under the shade of a coffee shop. What followed next is something magical and heart-warming.

A lady from the inside came outside and greeted us with a sweet sounding 'hello'. She requested us to come inside the store and spend time until our bus comes. Without any hesitation, my friend nodded his head and accepted her request with a 'Yes'. We went inside and started exploring the shop. It was a coffee store with swanky interiors studded with glistening lights hanging from the top and magnificent photo frames posted on the walls. The ambiance was indeed entrancing and the 'Country roads' by 'John Denver' being played in the background increased the incandescence of the atmosphere by manifold times.

Suddenly, I came across a poster of 4 friends gabbling over a cup of coffee and the poster is printed with a doozie one-liner 'A lot can happen over coffee'. Well, the brand that I am talking about is none other than the 'Cafe-coffee Day'. Started from a cramped space on Brigade Road, Bangalore, in the year 1996, CCD has become the go-to place for India's youth. Bubbling with 1500+ stores in India, CCD has become the home-brewed brand that has built his presence even in International locations.

CCD-The Brand

With the rise in demand for 'Ready to Drink' coffee, CCD has become one of the most recognizable and affordable brands in India. It mainly caters to youth in the middle and higher income groups. CCD acts as the hangout place where people flock together to have coffee and snacks. That single day experience in class-x has made me an avid fan of their coffee and now I am now one of their frequent visitors. We had a total of 300 bucks and ordered a couple of cappuccinos and Garlic bread. Since then, I try to visit my nearby cafe coffee day store on a weekly basis to indulge in a world-class coffee experience at affordable prices.

But what made me hooked to CCD? Unlike other brands, Cafe Coffee Day is a brand which has tried to innovate their services in due course of time. It started its journey by rolling out the concept of the coffee bar in India and managed to give a pinch of international flavors to its customers. But how did keep me engaged with the brand and why don't I get bored even after spending hours after hours in a CCD store. There are salient reasons behind my attachment with CCD.

Extensive food & beverages options

Firstly, I am fervent about hot beverages like coffee, tea because they act as energy-boosters for me. Cafe Coffee Day exactly serves the purpose of providing a comprehensive coffee experience to me. They have 50+ types of coffee of international standards which awe me in every possible way. They have leading-edge roasting appliances for roasting the coffee beans to the demanding specifications of the insightful coffee consumers. They have a team of experienced personnel who prepare the coffee of the highest standard for customers like us.

This 'young-at-heart' coffee retail chain is the perfect destination for coffee-lovers since they prepare different types of coffee with the right mix of ingredients and technology. This is one of their innovative ways to keep customers like me engaged with the brand as our taste buds might get bored with the consumption of the same type of coffee every day. Apart from coffee, their product range constitutes samosa, biryani, garlic bread, masala sandwich, tikka sandwich etc. My favorite item in CCD is the Frappe which is the perfect blend of coffee and flavored ice creams.

Reasonable pricing model

CCD started with a vision of becoming the friendly and stylish social hub for the young people and 22 years from its beginning, it has already become the 'largest youth-aggregator in India'. There are youngsters like me who wish to hang out in places where we will be able to grab a quick meal without draining much of our savings. Its major customer lies in the bracket of 15- 29 and it has devised a reasonable pricing scheme for most of its customers. A combo at Café Coffee day is priced at the minimum rate for Rs.49 for the starters and it increases with the menu. The price for a cup of cappuccino ranges between Rs.80 and Rs.120 depending on whether you are choosing add-ons or not. From the time it first started its operations, it has done only minor alterations in the pricing scheme due to the minor modifications in the framework of Government taxes. CCD being a brand has never deviated from their exclusive rationale of providing an excellent range of coffee products and food items in a friendly and sober environment. The pricing is adjusted according to the income standard of a young to middle-aged person. Just when Indian youth like me demanded a world-class environment of coffee and food, CCD delivered it in an affordable and accessible way.

Comforting Ambiance

Having zeroed in on the youth and the young at heart as the target market, CCD is the place away from your home or office where you can relax with your friends, colleagues or your favorite ones without even giving a second thought. It is a place for me where I have met my first girlfriend as well. Amusing! Isn't it? CCD provides a spellbinding environment where you can discuss the best ideas and solutions in your mind with your friends or colleagues. It is the place where you can spend your lone time by taking a sip in a cup of freshly brewed coffee. The canorous music played at the background of CCD often indulges all the five senses and creates an enduring impression in the minds of the visitors. Coffee with such music always acts as a stress-buster for most of the people and keep you brimming with energy. By conversing over a cup of coffee, you can solve business problems or share personal woes with your best friend.

Customer-centric approach

Another thing that intrigues me about Cafe Coffee Day is the way they treat their customers and build a long-lasting relationship with them. They target the students by sponsoring the cultural events that are organized in their colleges. I once approached the CCD core team for sponsoring my college fest and they accepted my request wholeheartedly. Every attendant at the counter will greet you with a smile and a warm welcome. They will help you in choosing the right item for you if you become too tensed in selecting one. They will ask for your post-service feedback in a courteous way and even gift you with loyalty coupons if you are a frequent visitor to their stores. To keep their consumers betrothed, they launched Cafe Citizen program back in the 2000s. By spending a mere 100 bucks, you will be eligible for becoming a member of 'Cafe Citizens Program'. I am luckily one of them and I get a 10% discount on my bill every time I visit my nearby CCD store.

Interminable Innovations in customer service

Unlike the other traditional coffee joints, CCD has revolutionized its services in the last few years. With the enablement of technology in the front-end and back-end, it has started enriching the coffee experience of customers. Now they have made all of their stores Wi-Fi enabled. They are currently employing a Bluetooth technology to stream music across the café in order to create an exciting and vibrant atmosphere for the customers. Even their in-house magazine 'cafe chronicle' is of great interest to the customers since it gives you all the latest news on the sports and entertainment world. The CCD has completely remodeled their branding strategy by decorating their splashy interiors with adorning lanterns and intricate artworks. They have modified the seating arrangement and included furniture with contemporary designs providing extra comfort to the customers. These minor modifications in their interior designs have largely contributed to the embellishment of the environment within the closed doors of the coffee shop.

CCD has played a master-stroke by giving an internet experience to the users while drinking and sipping a cup of coffee. This has been one of their ways of enticing customers who are only concerned about pocket-friendly food and beverage options. from informal office meetings to birthday parties of friends, I get a feeling of togetherness and friendship when I am within CCD. For a free-spirited individual like me, Cafe Coffee Day is the best place to hang out with your close ones. By upgrading the look-and-feel of the stores and serving the customers with pure delight, it has captured the hearts of millions of young people like me who are ready to expend around 150 bucks for a fine-quality combo of a cappuccino and chicken-grilled sandwich.