Of beer and men

In Singapore it’s not unusual to see coffee shops packed at 11pm/12 midnight every night of the week including weekends. This experience is replicated across many countries in the region from India to Malaysia and Indonesia. The culture of drinking in Asia is not about alcohol it’s about coffee and tea. It’s still about friends but it’s sober conversation as oppose to drunken ones. There are no coffee related fights about spilling a Venti Cappuccino! There are more coffee shops in Singapore than bars.

Coffee shops are growing at a faster rate in India than any other form of F&B outlet. This appears to be down to more affluence, a desire to eat and drink out and a predominantly non-drinking culture. Of course there are a mass of bars in Singapore and across Asia but these tend to be filled with expats and Chinese and focused on certain areas and linked to Karaoke (that’s another blog!).

Singaporean’s are just not brought up to get drunk in the way English and American’s especially are. This in turn leads to a more civilized society, there are fewer drink related injuries for hospitals to deal with and society to pay for. There is not the violence that happens every weekend in most towns in the UK, it’s just not accepted and not desired. From a marketing point of view it means that if you want to target these people you have to think in a more sophisticated and creative way.

Starbucks may be much maligned but they, Costa and other Western brands are growing in Asia along with the monster Asia coffee brands like Gloria Jean’s and Coffee Bean are more effective at reaching many Asians than marketing through bars and alcohol which many do not see as part of their lives in the same way as Western societies do. 

Chris Reed, Regional Partnerships Director (Asia), Partnership Marketing