If you’ve ever been to Dutch Bros. you know it’s not about the coffee, it’s about the brand experience. The coffee is fine, but that ins’t what makes thousands of people loyal, raving fans of the drive through coffee stands. Dutch Bros. knows who they are, why they exists and is committed to living out those values. And it is this commitment that quickly turns first time visitors into repeat customers and brand advocates.
What We Heard About Dutch Bros.
Take us for example. A couple weeks ago we were in Grants Pass, OR (the town where Dutch Bros. started) and we started receiving Tweets and Facebook messages that we had to visit a Dutch Bros. while we were there. We were also meeting with a couple organizations to talk about branding. As part of our exercises we asked them to tell us a bout a strong local brand and guess who kept coming up over and over. Yep, the town of Grants Pass is in love with their Dutch Bros. In fact, there is only one Starbucks in town, and that is a small shop inside a grocery chain. Starbucks has much better coffee, but Dutch Bros. isn’t competing in the coffee business. Dutch Bros. is in the people business. It’s in the serving people, making them happy, making them feel good about themselves and smiling business. And they do it extremely well.
Our Dutch Bros. Experience
After all the encouragement we decided we had to try it out for ourselves. There was a shop right across the street from our hotel so we drove by one morning and were greeted by Chris and Jordan. Not a regular good morning, what can I get you greeting. They seemed really excited to be there and even more excited we came by. The excitement grew when they found out it was our first visit to Dutch Bros. So much so that we got our coffee for free, they gave us a bunch of stickers and then proceeded to help us find a local park to take a morning walk. It was the perfect start to our day – a friendly face welcoming us to a new town, and oh y the way we got our morning coffee. Needless to say we were back at Dutch Bros. again later that same day.
The Dutch Creed
If you visit the Dutch Bros website you’ll find the Dutch Creed which sumes up their brand and our experience.
Here at Dutch Bros., we’re all about being positive and lovin’ life. That’s why when we came across the “Optimist’s Creed” we decided to adopt it as our own and call it the Dutch Creed. We strive to pass the good vibes on to our employees and customers through leadership within our company, and customer service. Check it out; it just might change your state-of-mind:
- To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
- To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
- To make all your friends feel there is something in them.
- To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
- To think only the best, to work only for the best and expect only the best.
- To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
- To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
- To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
- To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
- To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
Being Your Brand
The brand, this creed, is lived out by the employees from the top down. It was exactly what we experienced on our first visit and it is the stuff of legend as we heard story after story from their customers. Dutch Bros. has been successful because their brand is consistent, their brand promise is true, and their customers are telling the same story as their team. If you want to see examples of their customers stories, check out their Facebook and Twitter pages.
What is your brand about? Are you in the whatever you sell business or the people business? Do you have customers that can’t wait to tell your story for you? If not, maybe you are more focused on the product than the people.
About jeffabel
Why we love Grants Pass:
1.Multiple beautiful rivers to dive into anytime I want to
2.Small enough that you can’t possible get lost, but big enough that you can escape when you need to
3.Feeling the sun on my cheeks almost every day of the year and always being refreshed with the rain when we need it most
4.The contagious Dutch Love that began right here in little ‘ol GP!
Brettani – thanks for the recommendation to visit Dutch Bros. and experience the Dutch Love first hand.