Starbucks has opened a concept store on London's Conduit Street to test a new logo + store design.
Its manual coffee machine + mis-matched furniture gives it a cosy-cool feel + a whole load of character which seems more Leon than Starbucks.
It definitely looks like somewhere I could happily curl up for a while. The only problem being that they're probably serving the same tasteless, overly milky coffee that they always have. So while I may go once to check it out I suspect I'll be rushing back for the rich-smooth-deliciousness that effortlessly cool Brill (Exmouth Market) serves up pretty sharp'ish. Sorry!
It's funny how the TED Talks seem to magically answer the questions that are going around in your head.
I've been thinking lately, as we work more and more on 'content' briefs, that the traditional approach of developing a proposition to connect a brand + a story with its intended audience just doesn't work here. Different people connect with stories in different ways, depending on who they are, what they're into, what they've experienced themselves + what they're looking for.
Novelist Chimamanda Adichie talks about the temptation to form an opinion on a person or a place based on just one aspect of its being. A person, a place, a situation cannot be described by just 'one story'. It is what it is because of the multiple stories that have shaped it.
By taking the time to appreciate the many stories that surround who we're talking to will help us understand how we are all different, instead of how we are similar. Afterall, everyone is unique + wants to be seen as an individual, not as part of a demographic group.
So rather than transmitting a single message designed to appeal to a large audience based on just one aspect of their being, we can instead engage all sorts of people in different ways, through the various aspects of the story we're telling. Enabling them to interpret it in their own way, take what they want from it, share their thoughts, debate, hypothesise - and ultimately demonstrate their individuality- all of which allow us to connect with them on a much deeper level.
Its manual coffee machine + mis-matched furniture gives it a cosy-cool feel + a whole load of character which seems more Leon than Starbucks.
