Archive for May, 2013

Well, San Francisco has Sightglass and Blue Bottle and a few other hot little places to grab a great brew. But Melbourne has this:

On the occasion of the World Barista Championships and World Brewers Cup being hosted in Melbourne, Broadsheet has created this map of the city’s top specialty coffee for you to explore and enjoy. The spirit of these competitions is what we think coffee in Melbourne is all about: creativity, the pursuit of excellence and a constant exploration of the potential.

Specialty coffee is by no means a rare find in Melbourne, but rather, is increasingly becoming the standard offering across the city. From narrow city spaces to converted corner milk bars – if there’s life, there’s a barista waiting to take your order.

Cafe culture is an intrinsic part of our day-to-day life in Melbourne. We happily make that detour to our favourite cafe every morning, we meet friends for coffee, and we’ll even wait in a long line for a table at that new place.From May 23 to 26, 2013, Melbourne will host the world’s top coffee professionals as they compete for the title of World Barista Champion. It offers Melbourne an opportunity to demonstrate that, as a city, we are producing a wide variety and volume of coffee on an international scale; at a quality that is truly world-class.

Take this map with you, and find your own way.

Was looking at a new Keep Cup just today. Brilliant story of the birth of a ‘Good Brand’. Good Brands aren’t just really good, they do good. Love their new campaign – ‘Salute the Reuser’ which amplifies their brilliant purpose.

A brilliant video from Lorna Jayne – a great Aussie Brand – on how they are using social media. I love her passion for the customer and brand.

If you’ve got a first class ticket, the highest level of status with the airlines network and partners, the highest status with the brand in another market, you’d think that would be enough to get you access to the airline lounge. But alas, not so with Virgin America.

And their employees think it sucks too. One said to me today ‘we get that complaint a lot, it’s a stupid rule’. So, how does the employee drive a solution and provide that feedback to management – how does a customer?

This is where platforms like Salesforce Chatter and Ideas come into their own – when matched with a new management playbook.

Virgin is a brand I love. Virgin Australia is brilliant and the employees seem much more empowered to drive customer delight than those here in the US.

But in the age of the connected customer, brands need new systems of engagement to overcome the inevitable service failures that come with scale.

That’s how great brands become greater.

I was asked the other day for a list of my favourite brands. So here it goes. A post a week for awhile on brands I love, collect and follow. First up, Heath Ceramics – simple, elegant, honest designs. Natural tones. Pure quality. What’s not to like.

Here’s an interview with Catherine Bailey of Heath.