Brand Localization when entering New Markets – Joe & Dough

Joe Dough

Industry

Food & Beverages

The Project

Brand Transformation for New Markets

Brand Introduction

Joe & Dough is a made in Singapore Brand founded in 2009 with the dream to make good coffee and sandwiches accessible to everyone.

By late 2017, Joe & Dough had expanded to 10 outlets and was ready to grow internationally. An opportunity to expand into Indonesia was presented but, Damien and Dawn, cofounders of Joe & Dough felt, in order to give themselves a better chance of success, they needed to ensure that their brand’s approach into Indonesia was spot on.

The Brief

Astreem was tasked to uncover the consumption and lifestyle habits of Joe & Dough’s targeted market and to design an F&B Café experience to help the brand stand out amidst the existing plethora of sophisticated lifestyle café concepts already in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Through an International Market Entry & Branding Project supported by ESG, we conducted an in-depth Market study and redeveloped the enhanced brand positioning of Joe & Dough Indonesia by reimagining everything from the brand promise, brand voice, the service culture, the look and feel, uniforms, menus and social media strategy.

The Roadmap

Interviews with different stakeholders both internal and external to understand any cultural gaps in consumer sentiments between Singapore and Jakarta. Thorough competitor research was conducted across over 30 concepts that took into consideration Brand, size, positioning, product mix, pricing, ambience, concept, location and target market. Through a café world concept style workshop, we also uncovered possible “Hero Products” that could potentially help Joe & Dough stand out. Finally, a roadmap was laid out and the team was ready to implement the changes.

The Implementation

Over a year of research, interviews and design, the Joe & Dough Team finalised their concept and set about executing the project with their local partner. Leveraging the findings of the report, Damien and Dawn were able to craft a Joe & Dough Brand that not only captured the essence of the brand but also lifted its positioning by offering products and services relevant to the highly competitive Indonesian market.

Known for their pastries and bakes, and combined with the selected  JV partner’s immense passion for Croissants, Joe & Dough elected to become known for its Bakes and pastries in Indonesia. Simultaneously, they designed a product that literally combined a decadent hot chocolate in a baked coffee cup was created to illustrate their new tag line ” Where Barista Meets baker”. This distinction successfully set them apart from the very strong incumbents in the market.

In 2019, Joe and Dough opened their first outlet in Plaza Indonesia, Jakarta.

 

In fact, not long after the launch, Joe & Dough achieved the “the Best Croissant in Indonesia” annoncement in both social media and in a newspaper advertisement. Even Thaksin and Yingluck (Ex Prime ministers of Thailand) commented about the creativity of Joe & Dough’s products in the Thai Newspapers.

 

The Outcome

Two years on, Joe & Dough have already opened 5 outlets in Indonesia. The experience also galvanized their commitment towards franchising as a growth strategy. In Singapore, they are actively seeking to increase their brand footprint and today, have 12 outlets and are targeting to open another 5 outlets in 2021.

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