Beanos Cafe - Analysis

Beanos Cafe is one of the most thriving and trendy cafe chains in Egypt. It has branches all over the country, including Cairo, Alexandria, Giza, Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada El Gouna Resorts, in addition to international branches in Paris, France. Because it sells new coffee products, such as cappuccino and java solo drinks like espresso, most of its daily customers are the youth – people between the ages of 18 to 25. In addition, it sells high quality products at affordable prices, so it tends to attract the middle class, for example: university students. Moreover, most of its customers are regular customers because Beano’s Cafe excels in its excellent and quick service, so generally, the customers have a positive attitude towards the cafe. However, since Beano’s Cafe targets young people, its segmenting style/type falls under Demographic Segmentation, which is based on variables such as age, generation, etc. (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012).

Beano’s Cafe is targeting the coffee market by enhancing the quality of its service. In order to find out what consumers like and dislike about their cafe, they conducted surveys. The results of the surveys showed that consumers liked the cafe’s service, atmosphere, and quick response, while they disliked allowing private celebrations to be held, waiting to get a table at the cafe, prices of food, type of music played in the cafe, and the furniture as well. The cafe tried to solve the problems by increasing the number of tables and chairs in the crowded locations, reducing prices of popular products while increasing prices of newly introduced products, and playing different types of music to improve the environment (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012). By trying to solve the problems that face them and making use of this strategy, it proves that Beano’s Cafe really wants to please its costumers and meet their needs.

Discuss how Beano’s positioned itself in the Egyptian local market. Also explain how Beano’s differentiated itself from the competition.

According to the article (2012), “Beano’s Cafe positioned itself as an affordable, modern cafe with a lively, entertaining environment.” It aims to offer its customers a convenient, calming place where they can buy food and drinks of high quality at an affordable price. The cafe is designed in a contemporary style using warm colors to create a simple, elegant, clean, and modern environment. It is more known for the place where young people hang out and where people can have an affordable outing, listen to the latest music, and use wireless Internet.

One of the many methods Beano’s uses to differentiate itself in the Egyptian local market is using a vibrant orange color for advertising, in addition to being the only local cafe that offers desserts, which is the most outstanding feature of the cafe, according to 21 percent of the customers. Another method Beano’s uses is using a kitchen because it provides the company with differentiation over the competition. By having a kitchen, it can offer a larger menu selection and customers are allowed to modify and customize their orders. These options amaze and attract customers because they are not available in most cafes in the region. Furthermore, Beano’s uses ads to present unique offers to its customers every month, such as offering American coffee with chocolate fudge. Those offers Beano’s Cafe unique invention, and other cafes in Egypt do not offer them. In addition, placing creative art foam on top of the cappuccino is another method Beano’s uses to differentiate itself. The customers could customize the drawing and they could even do it themselves. This really helped Beano’s in differentiating itself from its competitors. It also saw growth and an increase in the sales of its coffee products because it was able to please the consumers’ desires and exceed their expectations (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012).

What changed first, the Beano’s customer or the Beano’s Cafe experience? Explain your response by discussing principles of market targeting.

I believe that Beano’s Cafe experience changed first, and this led to a change in Beano’s customer experience. By evaluating and selecting market segments, the Beano’s Cafe experience changed. This happened when it realized that most of their customers are from a specific segment, and targeted that segment, which is the youth segmented market. This change led to a change in several other things, such as the menu selection, music played, colors, furniture, and type of service, which created a specific vibe and environment. This change led to a change in the cafe’s customers’ experience because even though most of their customers are young people, not all of them are. So, for example, if an a 40-year-old adult enters the cafe, he will youthful again because of the environment created. Continue.

Briefly outline a marketing campaign targeting a new segment for Beano’s Cafe.

Beano’s Cafe wants to “increase its market share and target a new segment while maintaining and/or increasing its appeal to the youth segment” (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012). The new segment they want to target is the senior citizens segment because they represent the higher socio-economic class. This type of targeting falls under Differentiated/Segmented Marketing because it wants to target several market segments and design separate offers for each. In order to do that, Beano’s Cafe need to conduct a market research to learn more about senior citizens, including what they like, in terms of food and beverages, what TV and Radio channels they watch and listen to, what magazines and newspapers they read, what neighborhoods do they live in. For example, it could focus on a newspaper that most senior citizens read and place an ad to offer discounts. Beano’s Cafe could also focus on making the cafe more family friendly because most senior citizens go out with their families. If it excelled in satisfying the children, their families would spend a longer time in the cafe. In addition, it needs to spend more money to advertise for the cafe and its products and services using various methods. Moreover, it could work on offering a larger menu selection. Although the research and special offers created for them would cost a lot, if Beano’s Cafe succeeded in targeting the senior citizens, its sales would increase a lot as well.

They focused on CRM and RM. Beano’s introduced a customer loyalty and smart card program that enabled customers to collect points for each separate order. The customer could then redeem the points and receive free products. Beano’s also targeted all customer segments by introducing a promotional Beano’s points card. Customers pay for the cards, starting at 50 to 200 LE and use them whenever they wish. The cards turned out to be very effective for customers who are entertaining friends and for family outings.