Trade Coffee: Brand Positioning Case Study

There’s coffee. And then there’s “good coffee.”

Nothing against Starbucks, Folgers from a can, or that Dunkin Donuts bag you grab at the grocery store each week. But that’s not good coffee.

Good coffee is locally roasted. Brewed within days. And then consumed so fresh you can actually taste delightful notes like citrus, chocolate, or toasted almond.

That’s the experience Trade makes possible and they even took a step further by customizing every single bag to your unique taste preferences.

That’s why they’re the subject of this week’s brand breakdown. Let’s get into it…

💼 The Brand: Trade

Trade Coffee was founded in 2018 by Michael Lackman and Joshua S Rosen, both coffee enthusiasts with backgrounds in tech. Trade offers a unique subscription where every bag delivered to you is based entirely on your tasting preferences.

 💛 The Heart (Mission & Vision)

Trade is built by coffee drinkers for coffee drinkers. They unite the nation’s top roasters directly with passionate coffee drinkers.

They want to open your eyes to everything coffee can be. Pulled directly from their CEO’s LinkedIn, they do it “all in the name of turning coffee drinkers into coffee lovers.”

👤 The Head (Strategy & Positioning)

Trade believes that everyone should experience awesome, fresh, and delicious coffee. They cater to anyone who’s ready to dip their toes into better than average coffee.

They’ve positioned themselves as your guide into this frontier. It’s not some sort of AI algorithmic matching. It’s a carefully curated user journey with human-backed personalization.

What this means is that every coffee they recommend has been vetted for quality and for the preferences they list.

They know what goes good with milk & sugar versus just taking it black.

They know what works best for an automatic coffee maker versus a manual pour over.

In case all this coffee talk is going over your head, the lesson is this: Trade is using empathy to make the best, most personalized coffee experience ever.

DOWNLOAD NOW: Free 5-Minute Marketing Plan [Get Your Copy]

✋ The Hands (Tactics)

Now, let’s get down to the brass tacks… here’s how Trade carries out its strategy:

• Every Trade subscription starts with granular personalization. When you sign up for Trade, you take a simple quiz asking questions about how you like your coffee (I might judge you for adding milk or sugar to high quality coffee, but this quiz won’t)

• Trade offers a treasure trove of how-to brewing guides. To further position itself as a “guide” on your coffee connoisseur journey, it’s created several different step-by-step guides on how to brew your coffee.

• They keep their Instagram focused on the human side of coffee. Take a quick look at Trade’s Instagram and you’ll notice something… people. Rather than showing off snazzy, perfectly shot coffee bags — they showcase the sights, sounds, and smells of the local coffee roasting scene. In a world of cheap, mass produced coffee this tells Trade’s story perfectly.

How You Can Steal Their Strategy

Invite People on a Journey and Customize the Experience.Locally roasted, high quality coffee isn’t new or unique. But holding the hands of both newcomers and longtime coffee snobs alike as they go down the rabbit hole of top notch coffee is special.

Regardless of what your business offers, take some time and consider what journey you’re inviting people on and then ask these questions:

• How can you customize it to their preferences?
• How can it solve their problem with excellence?
• How can it educate them and bring them down the “rabbit hole”?

Want this in your inbox every week? We'd love to have you! Subscribe using the form below 👇