Ralph Lauren is opening a brick-and-mortar, branded coffee shop in Singapore called, appropriately, Ralph’s.
The coffee is only one small part of it, though. Through detail-oriented branding in just about every corner of the store, Ralph’s is hoping to be a destination that boosts the overall Ralph Lauren brand, and not just through over-caffeinating people.
Inside the store, which is set to open in Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands in July, you’ll find all the makings of an upscale cafe, and Ralph Lauren used things like drinkware, signage, packaging, and more. “And more” in this instance includes life-sized Ralph Lauren bears wearing Ralph’s branded aprons or little coffee carts that add to the cute, pseudo-retro vibe of it all.
https://twitter.com/dk_is_dokyeorm/status/1663979947223060481
Ralph Lauren opened similar Ralph’s pop-ups in retail stores in New York and beyond, and opened full-time stores in Malays,a Germany, the UK, and Qatar, according to World Coffee Portal.
It’s not going to be the best coffee in the world, or any sort of life-changing experience, but through good branding and promotional items, it creates a photo opportunity, which of course adds to the brand visibility.
☕️🐬🐶Ralph’s Coffee🐶🐹☕️ pic.twitter.com/d4Tg1mVWCe
— 🐹erichi🐹 (@erijs2525) May 29, 2023
It helps that Ralph’s got a boost from K-pop star DK taking photos there, so plenty of fans have followed his lead.
Most of all, this is a lesson in how any restaurant or food service business can use branding to keep its name visible without being kitschy or too overt. It has prominent, but tasteful, placement on signage and packaging, branded napkins, and of course branded cups. Adding a statement piece like the cart or bear is a bow that ties it all together.
