Photo Credit: martinca via Flickr

It's no secret to my friends and colleagues that I love me some coffee. Every morning starts out with a French Press full of my favorite bean, and I do most of my work from various coffee shops around town (including the Ski Lodge at Watermark Church). I try to support local businesses up against the Chain Whose Name Shall Not Be Mentioned, and there are, in my humble opinion, three top-notch shops who all have loyal customers and evangelists of their brand. Together, they make a great case study of how small businesses are striving to make it in this economy, all while doing it in different ways. Three different audiences and strategies, same results.

Crooked Tree Coffee
Owned by some friends of mine from Texas A&M (whoop!), Crooked Tree has promoted (via Twitter, FB group page, and their website) a locals only, comfy couch, live music vibe coupled with GREAT coffee. Partnering with Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters, a local bean roaster, and serving some tasty vegan-friendly baked goods (that phrase rarely, if ever, comes out of my mouth), they have a super loyal following among college students and the artsy crowd, and strategically located themselves in the historic section of Uptown. Their marketing strategy: using word of mouth, invitations to aspiring visual and musical artists, some good earned media, and prolific use of social media tools to achieve their overall objective of organically grown, repeat customer base.

Drip Coffee
If you are in the Highland Park/Preston Hollow area, you've no doubt heard of Drip Coffee. Steve Thatcher, a 15-year veteran of the coffee business, is the man in charge. He's managed to attract a totally different crowd: entrepreneurs, investment professionals, the commercial real estate crowd, and the Highland Park mom set. How? Well, location is one reason, but from the start, Steve wanted Drip to be known for its high-quality, hand-roasted coffees from around the world. The roasting is done on-site and in small batches to keep the coffee uber-fresh. I love stepping out of my car and smelling the roast wafting outside in the parking lot. A panel of international judges have twice awarded first prize to Drip's Costa Rican coffee, and in a local online competition, they won a Golden Local for Best Coffee Shop in Dallas. The kicker: they don't have a social media presence AT ALL. No Twitter, no Facebook, no nothing. Their website reflects their decor and their business approach: clean, simple aesthetic that allows the coffee to do the talking. Their marketing strategy: using a great, great product to produce and support a natural word of mouth campaign and local community champions. It supports their business objectives perfectly. And it doesn't hurt that they are right next to Yummy Donuts (makers of the delightful Fruity-Pebbles-covered-blueberry-cake donut). My favorite bean, in case you are interested: Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. Tanzanian Peaberry is a close second.

The Pearl Cup
Last, but not least, is the Pearl Cup. Located in the up and coming section of Knox Henderson, it has a great vibe for freelance designers, artists, and the fashion crowd. It's definitely a community feel in there, and the walk-up, waist-high, long-ass counter serves as a natural conversation center with the folks behind the bar. The coffee is great, the pastries yummy, and they support the visual arts crowd heavily. They even have a little give-and-take library in the back for the avid readers, but most of the time, you'll see a barrage of Mac laptops opened up to take advantage of free WiFi. Their marketing strategy: using Twitter, a Facebook page, intentional fostering and creation of community, and solid customer service to keep folks coming back for more. And their signature Pearl Cup Latte? Oh. My. Lanta. My wife makes me drive down from Lake Highlands to bring her some of that sweet nectar of the gods. Hot or iced, I don't know what they put in it, but it's highly addictive. I think they partnered with the Triumvrate and Col. Sanders, with his wee beady eyes. Not surprisingly, it was awarded the Best Latte in Dallas by D Magazine.

In summary, all three shops are surviving and thriving because they accurately identified their audience, their competitive advantage and value proposition to that target market, and then capitalized on it from a focused business and marketing perspective. I know there are a number of other shops out there (like White Rock Coffee) but these just stood out. Support them; they need and deserve the business.

I would love to hear your thoughts on their approaches, and if you want to talk marketing strategy and tactics, you should follow me on Twitter here (or find me at one of these shops!). Enjoy this post? Please consider subscribing to this blog in your RSS reader of choice.