Starting a business

I was headed downtown with a friend of mine this past weekend.  It was a little late at night so I decided to grab a coffee not to feel the effects of sleep.  I wanted a coffee from Tim Horton’s, but alas, there was no Timmy’s along the way.  The nearest one I knew of was 5 minutes in the opposite direction.   “Don’t worry about it”, I was advised. “There are tons of coffee shops along the way.”  I’m sure there were, but they weren’t the same as Tim Horton’s.  So I went out of my way and drove the extra mile to get my french vanilla.

Not a big deal?  I didn’t think so either at first.  But the fact that a company can influence me to the point of altering my route just to buy a two dollar coffee is pretty impressive.  So I thought it would be interesting to analyze the factors that influenced me in making this decision:

1.  Convenience:  I knew the exact location of the Timmy’s.  However, I didn’t know if there were any coffeshops along the way.  I always hate driving and searching for something at the same time.  I tend to drift towards oncoming traffic, which is not a good thing.

2.  Predictability:  I knew  exactly what I wanted:  a medium french vanilla.  I also knew the price I was going to pay:  give or take two bucks.  If I went elsewhere, maybe they wouldn’t have the exact flavour I wanted or if they did, it might be too watery or too sweet, etc.

Price was another factor.  I grabbed a bite to eat with some people from my dojo the other day.  They ordered some wine and offered  me a glass.  I accepted and at the end of the night, I was stuck with a $50 bill (the waiter split the cost of all 5 bottles evenly…thanks garcon).  The point being, I don’t like this kind of surprise.  When it comes to coffee, I’m fairly price conscious.  Don’t ask me to pay six bucks for a coffee unless it has some kind of magical ‘axe effect’, which attracts all the nice looking girls within a 5 block radius.  And if ‘Axe’ (it’s a deodorant that uses some creative advertising) itself doesn’t work, your coffee sure as hell won’t, either.

Last but not least, I was familiar with the layout of a Tim Horton’s.  The tables and chairs look the same everywhere.  Their counter is set up the same way.  Their people dress in a certain manner.  I know more or else what to expect on their menus, etc.  These are minor things, but they do influence us to a certain extent.

3.  Emotional attachment.  Hate to say it, but over the years, I’ve developed somewhat of a bond with this bloody coffee shop.  In high school, my friends and I would often meet up at the local Tim Horton’s.  In university, I did a lot of studying there.  During breaks, that’s where I would go for a quick coffee to keep me awake during the last half of Microeconomics or Financial Accounting.  Though not always obvious at the conscious level, we all remember these kinds of experiences and they influence us at a subconscious level.

So there you have it.  All of these things went through my head, either consciously or subconsciously, in the span of a few seconds which resulted in my decision to turn back.  Who would have thought?

Tags: branding, marketing, tim horton, tim horton's

• Comments(1)