Nestle is working very hard, another machine launched -Viaggi.

by chee Leng (on coffee makers)
(Singapore)

Nestle Professional is launching another coffee machine named Viaggi that is manufactured by La Cimbali, an established Italian machine company.

The machine is being launched in Italy and Switzerland and I am not surprised that it would make it debut in Singapore soon.

Already, they are pushing hard with the Nescafe Milano system that are being touted as the premium coffee solution here in Singapore.

And of course, more than 200 over Alegria coffee machine has been sold since debuting for slightly more than a month.

Here is where things get interesting, we know that all along Nescafe serves instant coffee. The recent launch and success of Alegria was being marketed as a blend, where in essence there is still a large concentration of freeze dried.

Then, for Nescafe Milano it is basically a different way of serving instant freeze dried.

I do not have an issue with freeze dried or instant coffee (I personally find that they taste pretty good too), I just marveled at the way Nescafe market its products.

Viaggi is going to use Nescafe Grand Cru coffee extracts, so could it be a blend of freeze dried too? I have not seen the products, so cannot make a judgement on it.

But, with a machine done by La Cimbali, maybe there would be some real coffee beans, although it does promise easy to use for operators and we know that full service espresso machine are not really easy to use.

Anyway, back to the way Nescafe marketed it products, you would noticed a similarity with another big coffee company: Starbucks.

Is Via an instant coffee? Starbucks says it is not, but it is soluble in water, so it is a new technology.

Interestingly, Nestle professionals/Nescafe are touting their new "blend" as new technology and not instant coffee.

My $0.02

Call a spade a spade

Personally, if you are making instant coffee and you are ashamed of it, then you probably should not be selling it. What is wrong with instant coffee, and calling it so?

Instant coffee remains to be the main profit generator for Nescafe, and it would probably be so in the next 5-10 years.

And now, you have folks like Starbucks that serves gourmet coffee, making instant coffee to compete with you.

Isn't that a compliment on the importance of this market?

So, now that you are a blend, would the folks that enjoys a piccolo really buy the machine and lap up the blend? I doubt so.

For that 1 person that do not like instant coffee, there are 2-3 person out there that liked it. And why confused the folks that liked it.

Since they are already buying your products and you are making it better, why not sell the fact to them directly instead of going round the bush?

It is a thin line

With so many NGOs and ethical issue surrounding marketing ethics, it is better to be sure of what you are trying to sell.

Take Alegria for example, it is a great solution. I personally like the solution alot, but it took a while for me to realize that the blend contains less than 10% coffee grounds, so how would consumers react if they realize that most of the "blend" is still freeze dried?

Not sure if there would be backlash, but it is always good not to mis-represent.

Now, with a premium machine such as Milano being launched in Singapore, what is the real difference about it?

It is serving a different drink or using a different way to serve?

Why I still like Nestle?

Nestle is more "old school" when it comes to marketing. If you are looking for a Philip Kotler's STP (Segmentation, targeting and positioning), you can see it so clearly in the few machines that they launched so far.

They know their segments, target it and position each machine carefully for each segment.

Perfectly executed strategy, which I have no doubt would be accompanied with the right promotional mechanics.

I thought with such suave marketing, and great products, Nestle should be proud of it and not package it as other things...