By Bizna Brand Analyst

There are brands that thrive without advertising. They are called cult brands. Not cult because of any fishy religious affiliations but cult because of the way they have people hooked to their products and services.  In Kenya, one such brand is Java Coffee House. I wonder if it even has a marketing department. If you head to its Facebook page for example, you will notice that it was last updated about a month ago. There’s probably no social media team too. This is unlike majority of companies which prefer keeping tabs on customers via Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and even the yet-to-be-invented sites. If you check on TV and Radio, you are unlikely to see any Java ads. But go to any Java Coffee shop any evening and you’ll find it full and buzzing. Why so?

Despite its size and influence, Java has built its loyal following by co-opting the grassroots, relationship-focused marketing tactics that are often the domain of smaller biasharas. Big companies pour money to try and convince us all why we need them but not Java. Nevertheless, the books remain balanced.

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People do the legwork for this marquee coffee brand. How many influential musicians have you heard singing about Java? I’ve heard a couple. And it’s not like they were paid for it. Take Rich Mavoko for example. He is one of Tanzania’s most popular singers. In the track ‘Lini’ his chorus goes, ‘Nikija Nairobi, unipeleke Java ninywe Kahawa.’ The effects are obvious. Any Tanzanian guy that comes to Nairobi for the first time would definitely want to check out Java.  And for someone who has never been to a coffee house before (let’s say someone from rural Kenya), the first place they think of is Java, because they’ve definitely heard the name before. And it’s not like Java is the best coffee house in Kenya.

Some consumer brands have thrived simply on buzz generated by word of mouth. This is because they built a great name for themselves early on before competition arrived. Previous consumer experiences with these products were more valuable in establishing their place in people’s hearts than any expensive commercial with a mega celebrity as its face could achieve.

Another reason is that competition hasn’t taken any steps to be on top either. No other coffee brand has come up and done massive campaigns to be the go-to-shop for those in need of some caffeine. It might be because they harbor no dreams of expansion or they simply don’t have the budget to do extensive marketing.

According to Bloomberg, businesses all over the world spent nearly $600 billion on marketing campaigns alone. Even more surprisingly, that number is expected to increase by another $100 billion by 2018. It’s thus impressive that brands, with huge market share such as Java have opted out of the traditional advertising game yet there’s no shortage of companies competing for your coffee shillings.

It still remains to be seen whether Java will remain at the top in future given the way entrepreneurship is growing. Only time will tell.