To bring you only the finest of blogging experiences, we went on a quest to Far Coast, Coke's global pilot store, conveniently located in Toronto.
You wouldn't know this is a Coke operation directly -- although I felt the graphic design shared some DNA with Coke's current billboards.
I found it interesting that the furniture arrangement has changed since the pictures other sites took on launch day -- there are more tables now.
Mixed furniture styles suggest bohemian / early apartment influences, and I kind of liked that they were not all the same. There's a surprising amount of room on the main floor, with an ample aisle so you don't have to brush others coming and going.
Here's the second floor, very spacious, but with more of a 'party zone' feel, with upholstered benches, for socializing. Also a kids play area (not shown).
The coffees and teas are intended to evoke the pleasures of international adventure, in a safe and predictable way. Interesting that the graphics used for other coffees almost never have people in them -- but Coke has clearly identified personalities with the various flavors of coffee (see the pix higher up). This feels very unusual, and has to be part of the branding strategy.
There were about six flavors of coffee, and similar of tea. And then you have a choice of preparations for the flavor: Americano (basic brew), latte, and a few others. I found their menu choices difficult to navigate, actually. The signage, unfortunately not visible in the pix, said something like "Choose your adventure". So it took my companion and I some flailing around before we were able to make a coherent order.
My choice turned out to be excellent -- a mid-range brew, fairly aromatic, and much to my taste. My companions was a watery, lifeless, tasteless thing that would never pass muster south of the 49th parallel (IMHO), and neither of us would order again.
The heart of this system is the machine that makes the brew. That's the real innovation here. There are three of them in the image below. Each one takes a pod-thing of the right flavor, and the server presses buttons to give you the brew style requested.
No baristas here, these folks just have to get the buttons right.
Part of the target is apparently to provide the system to other purveyors of coffee, such as restaurants. From the company's press release:
Through Far Coast, the Company has created a revolutionary new system to empower its retail customers - premium restaurants, entertainment venues and other high-end outlets - to offer a variety of freshly brewed espressos, chai teas, cappuccinos and lattes with a high degree of operational ease.
The concept store is not the beginning of a large-scale rollout of a chain of Far Coast outlets. It is intended to demonstrate the product to consumers and to the retailers who are the real target. This is a fascinating direction for the company to take.
The location will allow the Company to gather consumer feedback quickly on new products in order to provide proven products to its restaurant customers. The location is also a great venue for the Company’s retail customers to observe the brand potential, gain consumer learning and train crew. (company press release).
No one could justifiably accuse Coke of being lazy in the research side of things, and the day I visited, they were conducting on-site interviews. So they now have a laboratory to pilot, test and promote the new brand.
The first image comes from the Coca-Cola company. The rest came from my Razr. More pictures can be found at Coke's site, here.
Some other views about Far Coast can be found below:
BlogTO here - "the pod system is a little too downmarket. It takes the romance out of the experience and left me feel like by drink had been McDonald's-ized."
Andrew Burke, Digital Construction here - "From overhearing Coca Cola's own marketing people pitching Far Coast, their approach seems to not be about becoming the next Starbuck's, but rather to have a few Far Coast locations in trendy and heavily-travelled areas, and to sell the fancy machines and flavour pods to restaurants and hotels, like they already sell their Coke fountains. No doubt you'll eventually be able to buy your own pods of 'Borana' at your favorite grocery emporium - and maybe a 'home game' version of the machine. This approach means they don't have to hire by coffee-making skill, but rather (I'm pretty sure I overheard this) by photogenic ethnic diversity - which is a whole other blog post in itself there."
Now Magazine here - "what we have here is the mother of all branding quagmires a company that personifies American cultural imperialism, targeted by boycotts all over the world, is trying to grow a new market out of us green urbanites."
Martini Boyz here - "Far Coast beverages all sport exotic names, like Belgante, Borana, and Sofistro. Keeping with the adventure theme, drinks are not described in terms of taste, but rather descriptive copy. For instance, Belgante, the Italian blend, is a “rich, captivating piazza encounter,” while Borana is “a jungle safari,” and Sofistro is a “subtly sweet, enchanting aria.” It’s appealing in an Elaine Benis, J. Peterman way."
