Coffee, Revisited
I bought a new coffee grinder last Saturday, and it was twice as expensive as my last one.
More than how I reached that decision—which we’ll talk about here—I think it’s more interesting that there were only two in my consideration set. So, let’s start there.
(If you’re jumping into this cold, by the way, and wondering why we’re talking about coffee grinder purchases, please read last week’s newsletter first.)
It seems quite obvious that my original coffee grinder, a Baratza, would be considered for a replacement: it’s a strong, legacy brand, was part of my daily ritual for seven years, and never caused any problems until it broke.
But how did Fellow, a relatively new brand, even make its way into my consideration set?
They built brand association.
Fellow, if you don’t know about them, is a newer brand in the coffee space, making design-centric, prosumer kettles, grinders, and coffee paraphernalia (think canisters, cups, etc). I own a kettle and it’s great, but the kettle, I don’t think is what put Fellow into the consideration set.
Fellow also runs a text-to-buy coffee program called Fellow Drops, where they curate interesting coffees from roasters around the world and offer them in limited quantities to an SMS list.
I’m on that list.
I’ve also spent more than $200 with Fellow Drops in the roughly nine months I’ve been on the list.
So, when I think of coffee, I think of Fellow. When I think of Fellow, I think of luxury.
This is my “splurge.”
Fellow, it seems, cares deeply about building a brand around this. Coffee, outside of a very small percentage of the population, is a commodity. Like an actual commodity: It closed Friday at $1.51.
But I, probably like most Fellow customers, mostly ignore price when it comes to coffee, because I enjoy the ritual. It’s my everyday luxury.
Thus far, they’re a case study in patience, restraint, and knowing their audience. They didn’t win me through ads (I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Instagram ad for them, for instance), but by building a set of products that resonates with people like me, and by building a brand around how those products (and the brand) fits the rituals those products serve.
That’s about as good as it gets when building brand association.
But, still, how’d they get me to buy?
As mentioned last week, Fellow’s grinder is basically twice as expensive as the Baratza I had—and I had some reservations about the price disparity.
That part is simple: Holiday sale.