The Vida e Caffé tribe

by Nic Haralambous on 30/03/2009

The tribe is strong with this one.

Last week (26 March 2009) saw the launch of the Vida e Caffé Twitter Account (follow them). I immediately followed them, then realised they were giving away free coffee to the first 60 direct messages. So I sent off a message and managed to get myself some coffee to collect soon at my nearest Vida, which happens to be Rosebank, Johannesburg.

The very next day I decided to have a morning meeting at Vida e Caffé in Rosebank with my coffee and my mac. I paid for my coffee. I don’t even care if I ever get my free coffee, it’s the idea that matters, the offer that counts and the ownership I feel towards the brand that makes me loyal to the Vida brand.

Hell, to be perfectly honest, I’m not even sure if I think there coffee is the best of the best, but I really don’t care.

Let me tell you why I don’t care.

I don’t care if Vida has the best coffee because I like the service I receive when I order my coffee. I get smiles, jokes and laughs.

I don’t care if Vida has the best coffee because I like the way they operate their business.

I like the placement of their shops. I like the vibe of the brand, the funkiness and the way they embrace the culture of South Africa in spite of the brand being more Portuguese.

I like that their menu is simple and their food is good, however expensive it might be.

Vida e Caffé has positioned itself as one of those brands that people would rather pay an extra R5-R10 for per coffee just to say it’s a Vida coffee. Simple. People feel like they are getting more when they are paying more.

The Vida e Caffé brand owns me and let me be clear here, I feel an acute ownership of the brand when I choose to have meetings there, drink the coffee or eat the food.

nharalambous@gmail.com

There are 6 comments in this article:

  1. 30/03/2009mylifescape says:

    I am a vidaholic. It’s that simple. I live by vida coffee and i will die by vida coffee. And very much for the same reasons… I’ll walk further and pay more for the sheer service excellence they live up to – even when I saw a staff member on the weekend he greeted me with enthusiasm!! And I purposefully give tips in change just to hear the hails of “Obrigado” over and over!! Rosebank is also my regular, but what I find phenomenal, is that if you pop into the one in Sandton, in Parktown, in Kloof street in Cape Town or the Waterfront is that you have consistency with the brand ethic and vibrance!! Plus, I do believe the coffee is the best!! I’m a twitter follower too!~

  2. 30/03/2009J9Z says:

    First I’ll admit that I’ve never tried Vida coffee; but that is only because I’m a complete Seattle Coffee fanatic, and I can understand the brand loyalty. Nothing beats the days when I get out to Seattle, order my blend in “their language” – which is altogether something appealing on it’s own – and sit down with a mag/ book from Exclusive Books (which their normally attached to) to relax for an hour or two.

    But, I do like trying new things – so I will have a Vida coffee soon and let you know whether I still think Seattles is the best :)

  3. 30/03/2009Dolce says:

    I like going there and I don’t even drink coffee.

  4. 31/03/2009Ross says:

    Hey dude, you can also follow Dulce Cafe (www.twitter.com/dulcecafe).

    I know for a fact that for the next 11 weeks they’re giving away 10 x R50 meal vouchers with 25MB free wifi access via Twitter.

    Competitions on a Friday and usually only requires a retweet.

  5. 31/03/2009Nic says:

    Howzit Ross, I’m already following them but will definitely tweet for sure now that i know there’s a competition on! :)

  6. 21/05/2009tony hartmann says:

    As the regional manager of Vida’s southern suburb stores in cape town, I would like to say Muito Obrigado for all of the outstanding feedback for our brand. Vida is indeed a superior brand, biased as i may be. If possible, direct any comments, compliments or suggestions to our company mail – shaun@caffe.co.za, or to my mailbox tony@caffe.co.za, and I’ll forward it on to our marketing departmant. Once again muito obrigado.

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