The Book of Brand Principles

Intro

Have you ever walked into a store where the sales assistant just sounds awfully robotic or have you been greeted with a weird tone of voice that sounds scripted? You just feel instantly that something is off because you see the façade the person has put on to serve you. Most call this service…

The purpose of this book is to uncover the principles which make us JOE & THE JUICE. JOE & THE JUICE is not a regular Food & Beverage concept with service, in fact, we are very much different from other concepts. We do not believe in service programs at all. Service is a cold transaction between a customer and an employee behind the register. The employee is only nice towards the customer because he/she was told to do so or to possibly gain extra tips.

What do we have then?

We have something called Brand Behaviour. Brand Behaviour is, in short, how we behave behind the bar.

How should you behave behind the bar then?

Well imagine that you had invited your best friends over to your house, how would you behave?

1) First you would be more relaxed because it is your home, where you feel the most comfortable.

2) Secondly you would be sincere and authentic because there is natural care for your guests.

3) Thirdly you would treat your guests individually, compared to who they are and what your relation is to them. For example, you do not talk to your grandmother in the same way as your best friend.

So, we want you to behave behind the bar like it was your own home

This is an unbelievable chance to express your individuality because in your home you set the rules, you decide how to react and you make your own decisions.

Although bear in mind

This also leaves you with a greater responsibility to make sure you are presenting yourself in the best possible way. This is what we mean by “be the best version of yourself”.

Why even bother doing this, is there a goal?

Good question. JOE & THE JUICE is much more than what we serve.
“We want to be somebody who offers a space, where everybody will feel like they are somebody special”!

What does this mean?

It means that our guests do not enter our stores to get a coffee. They come in to escape from their everyday lives and to find acknowledgment – to feel they belong somewhere in this world. The coffee is just an excuse to come in the first place.

More reason as to why we encourage our Juicers to be the best version of themselves is that working in JOE & THE JUICE is a journey towards self-development. We do not care if you are here for one month, a year, or ten years – if you have developed as a person throughout your journey in JOE & THE JUICE, then we have succeeded!

The development of our Juicers is the core purpose of their journey; your behavior in the bar is the by-product of your self-development!

“We sell juice to fund our youth culture”

The final goal is the result of the two previous goals. We want to create the most attractive youth culture!

How do we do that?

By constantly challenging ourselves, staying hungry, and continuously learn from our mistakes.

“We want to be on the cover of the Rolling Stones Magazine” – Kaspar Basse

Goals

– We want to be somebody who offers a space, where everybody will feel like they are somebody special

– We want to develop our Juicers to be the best version of themselves

– We want to create the most attractive youth culture

How do we express Brand Behaviour?

In this book, we will go through our Brand Principles within each chapter combined with a variety of examples to explain how Brand Behaviour unfolds in our stores around the world. These examples are real and have been collected throughout our history by many of our Juicers, who are still with us to tell the tale of their experiences.

Let’s get started!

Chapter 1: Product Quality

Where do we start?

Have you ever experienced buying a product and it just did not live up to your expectations, leaving you with the feeling of being cheated?

Let’s talk about the Brand Principle which needs to be in place first before we can even move on to discussing the others – The Product Quality. The quality of our products is the foundation of the experience; if we do not respect this simple Brand Principle then we have failed.

Our products are not what will make us the most attractive youth culture but it’s certainly what can make us fail in doing so if we do not execute the products correctly every time!

When you have bought something with the expectation of how it will taste and it fails in doing so, you will automatically have a negative mindset towards everything. Most likely projecting your negativity towards the people who made it.

EXAMPLE

Have you ever been faced with a guest who was about to explode because there was something wrong with their product?

You might wonder why this person is so upset. This mistake is something that could easily be fixed.

The reason is that the disappointment is larger than the mistake – and it always will be. It is probably also because when the guest became disappointed over the product, at the same time they also saw 3 juicers prioritizing their flair tricks. Then the guests will ask themselves; “did I really pay for this?”

Remember flaring looks cool when the product quality is good but it will look awfully foolish, arrogant, and careless when the product quality is off.

One could say that the product quality is the key that allows you to be able to flair, have fun, and act playfully. As you should already know, we have something called IMS (Ingredients, Measure, Sequence). This is what we follow every time to secure our product quality.

Wrap up

Now we have been through ‘The Product Quality’ principle. Remember:

– It is the first Brand Principle which needs to be in place

– It is the foundation of the experience in the bar – It is what can make our guest the most irritated with us

– It is what can make us fail as a brand

Here are some questions you should ask yourself every time you make a product:

– Did I respect the product?

– Has the product been made correct?

– Is the product warm/cold enough?

– Would I eat this myself?

– Did I follow the IMS?

Chapter 2: Choose your attitude

What decides how good or bad your day will be?

Have you ever woken up one day feeling certain that it is going to be a bad day and from then on, one bad thing happens after another? Why?

What happened was that you chose for it to be a bad day – your negative thoughts allowed you to become more sensitively aware of the negative events which occur every day anyway.

It is always your own choice how your day will be and more importantly how you respond to everyday events. It is called Choose Your Attitude. This means that it is YOU and only YOU who can choose how your day will be, no one else.

This translates so deeply into our bars in JOE & THE JUICE. We encourage everyone to realise that only they have the power to control their attitude behind the bar. It all starts by having a positive mind then the rest should be easy. Your positivity projects out to everyone around you in the bar which can have such an amazing effect on your guests and your colleagues – it’s contagious.

In JOE & THE JUICE, our workstyle is deliberately set-up to promote enjoyment behind the bar. From the stimulating challenges with making fresh on demand products, to the colleagues you work with, the music, our beautifully designed stores, and the guests who visit. We genuinely believe there is very little reason to have a bad day working in JOE.

EXAMPLE

Imagine this: You wake up one morning choosing your attitude. When you arrive at your bar, your fellow Juicer seems a bit down but you can cheer him up by him simply being around your positivity. Then a guest enters, maybe stressed or disappointed with their everyday life and with no surplus energy. You take care of that guest with your smile, energy, and behavior, hand out the coffee they ordered. Then before leaving the guest says: “Thank you so much for making my day!”

This can make your day become even more positive because you were just reminded that working in JOE & THE JUICE makes you happy – and the circle is complete.

This goes back to what was mentioned at the start of this book. We want you to Be The Best Version Of Yourself! Through that, you will inspire the best in the Juicers around you and the guests who visit our stores.

Wrap up

Now we have been through ’The Choose Your Attitude’ principle. Remember:

– Only you can decide whether, or not, you will have a good day

– You have the power to make someone’s day

– Strive to be the Best Version Of Yourself

Ask yourself these questions:

– Am I being the Best Version of Myself?

– Did I use my positivity to make someone happy today?

– How can I influence my colleagues around me?

Chapter 3: Understand the Guest

Why do our Guests visit Joe & The Juice?

To understand the guest, you need to know why they are here in the first place.

Kaspar Basse said it once very well. He compared a JOE & THE JUICE bar to a gospel church. Like a gospel church, people come there for different reasons. They either come for the music, the community, the values, to belong to somewhere, to talk to someone, to feel the energy, to meet someone, to see someone, to be someone – every person has their own reason to show up.

As with the gospel church, our guests all come in for different reasons. Therefore, we need to be able to approach each of them individually. Would you approach your grandmother the same way you would with your best friend? No, you would not.

With your grandmother, you would be sweeter, loving, patient, and speak clearly, compared to your best friend where you would be more energetic, have special handshakes, and probably use a different set of words.

Always recognize the type of guest who has entered the store and adapt your approach according to what would fit best in that situation. Now, this does not mean that you need to be someone you are not towards the guest but it does mean that you need to project the best version of yourself for each individual situation.

For example, being the best version of yourself who is kind towards the elderly or being the best version of yourself who is excited to see their friend.

Here are some of the guests you will meet:

Children

You can be the cool big brother/sister who gives them attention, makes fun, and is playful. Try to tell them something funny they can relate to perhaps give them JOEstickers or a high five.

Teenagers

You can be the role model they would look up to because of the way you speak, the clothes you wear, and how you show interest in them by asking them questions, even though they are teenagers. Perhaps you could relate to each other through common interests – parties, concerts, music, schools, etc. They will most likely find anything you say interesting because they look up to you if you simply show interest toward them.

Adults

You should be the person who takes pride in your job by showing how skilled you are. Your energy and spark in the eye show that you are serious but not too pompous. You can make an impression by having a more mature conversation to relate with them and show that you can have a work hard attitude but still enjoy it at the same time.

Elders

Be the patient, sweet young person, who is willing to take the time to take care of them even when busy. You realize that they might not understand this “new thing” with loud music but you will make it easier for them by speaking clearly so they understand. Maybe they come alone so you also want to go out of your way to have a conversation and make them not feel alone when they are with us.

Wrap up

Now we have been through the Understand The Guest principle. Remember:

– Guests have many different reasons for why they visit JOE & THE JUICE

– You need to adapt your approach to which type of guest is visiting

– Project the best version of yourself to fit each situation

Ask yourself these questions:

– Did I have a good approach?

– Did I give the guest a feeling of belonging to JOE & THE JUICE?

– Did I give the guest a reason to come back?

– Was I the best version of myself?

Chapter 4: Guest Dialogue

Wouldn’t it be weird to have your friends over for dinner without having a conversation?

Having a good dialogue with the guest can be so fulfilling for both the guest and yourself. This is what makes it interesting to work in JOE & THE JUICE.

The first step is to initiate the guest with a welcome. Remember from the “Guest Understanding” principle, that we need to adapt our approach so it suits the guest who enters, we need to do in the same way with our Welcome.

First, you start off by saying “hello” but that is not enough. The “Hello” repels off the guest because it is something that you expect to hear when entering any shop. It does not initiate the guest in any way because the word has no meaning to it anymore. It has become a standard social behavior just to say the word. Everyone expects a hello otherwise it would be weird without it.

What you need is a nice opener!

For example, “hello, nice jacket” could be a good opener because you complimented them at the same time you welcomed them in. Of course, you should never make a compliment if you don’t really mean it, then it will come across awkward!

This is the first step in initiating a good conversation.

The next step after the surprising opener, which grabbed your guest’s attention, you need to initiate the conversation. As a host, it is your responsibility to start the conversation. They are in your home and they are your guests.

How do you do that, you might think? It is simple you ask them a question. It doesn’t have to be a super well thought out question, it could be a yes/no question. You will quickly learn that the guest will answer back with a sentence which you can then use to build an entire conversation. Afterward, it is all about remaining interested in the dialogue. Something that you need to realize is that most types of guests love to talk about themselves. You will be surprised to see how many ignite when you ask them “are you heading to work?” Most of them will tell what type of job they have and boom – you are deep into the dialogue.

Remember the conversation develops the bond between you and the guest. This bond is the essence of JOE & THE JUICE.

Another thing to remember is that the better dialogue you have with your guest, the more likely you are to avoid awkward situations when something does go wrong. The situation is already dismantled because the guest has a positive view of you as a person. There is less chance to feel annoyed by someone you know.

Wrap up

Now we have been through the Guest Dialogue principle. Remember:

– Adapt your welcome depending on who enters the store

– Only you have the responsibility to start the conversation

– When you already have a good dialogue then there is less possibility for you to have a bad episode

Ask yourself these questions:

– Did I start the conversation?

– How could I have started the conversation?

– Did I create a bond between the guest and myself?

Chapter 5: Guest Recognition

What do all people seek?

Ever wondered why a guest comes into the store every day while you think they must be tired of the same sandwich? You probably know this guest very well.

The reason why they come back is that you give the guest recognition. You know who the guest is, where they work, and what they did last weekend. This is the epitome of what JOE & THE JUICE is about.

We give the chance for you to acknowledge the guest because this is what all people seek. Why do you want to be rich? So, others can acknowledge you. Why do you want to be an actor or singer? Again, so others recognize you. This is one of the basic human drivers that everyone around the world pursues.

How do you give recognition?

The first step is always to know the guest’s name. The name is such a powerful tool of recognition because it means that you do not just see the person as an insignificant being but rather as an individual who stands out.

Another recognition tool is to remember what you spoke about last time the guest was in. This also shows that there is some depth to your ongoing conversation. You could say that you are developing your relationship with the guest from every visit. This is what you call bonding or relating. It is exactly what we want to be able to do in JOE & THE JUICE, to make relationships with our guests.

Why?

It makes working behind the bar much more interesting and fun, the more you bond with them. You can look forward to your regular guests visiting and enjoy the JOE experience with them. Therefore, if you want to have more fun in the bar then create stronger relationships with your guests.

Another strong effect of good guest recognition is how it boosts the reputation of the store with an increasing number of loyal guests.

We do not only see them as our guests but also as Brand Ambassadors. Remember they are the ones out there who talk good about you and JOE & THE JUICE. Remember you are more likely to try out something your friends recommend to you, rather than what you see in an advertisement.

In that way, our guests become the most powerful advertisement of our bars.

Wrap up

Now we have been through the Guest Recognition principle. Remember:

– Guests are our Brand Ambassadors

– All guests are people who seek recognition

– Develop the conversation

– Develop your relationship with the guest

Ask yourself these questions:

– Did I remember their name or their order?

– Did I make sure to recognize the guest?

– Is there something special I could mention next time?

Chapter 6: The Recovery

Wow, thank you so much! You shouldn’t have done that!?

Have you ever been in a place where something happens beyond your expectations? Or you were about to complain but then suddenly the situation switched around to leave you with a positive experience?

In JOE & THE JUICE, we need to accept that mistakes will happen because of our fast-paced working environment. What is more important is what we do when a mistake occurs! It is our chance to show that we really care about our guests.

Every problem is significant no matter what it is. If someone has the courage to complain about something, then it is a big deal for them. People usually do not want to confront anyone with something that annoys them, so for them to complain tells us it is a big deal. We always treat their problems by showing care.

EXAMPLE

A guest complains that there is not enough ginger in their Go Away Doc. Instead of discussing whether or not you put enough ginger in the juice, just say, “Oh really, let me add some more ginger so you don’t get a cold.”

The Guest will be surprised and feel that your reaction to their situation made everything amazing.

What’s more important? That you win the debate or that the customer is happy with how you handled their situation? It could also be something that isn’t a complaint but more a situation where we have the chance to make the experience even better.

EXAMPLE

You see a guest who has not touched their juice and you ask them if the juice was okay. The guest says, “it tasted a bit weird actually”. Perhaps they didn’t like the ginger in the juice. Instead of responding, “yes ginger has a strong taste”, you would say, “Let me make you another one instead”. Anything with strawberries?” You make them a new juice and they will become super happy.

EXAMPLE

A guest drops their coffee on the floor. Instead of throwing them a towel to clean it up themselves, we go out, clean it up ourselves and make them a new coffee free of charge. They will be immensely impressed with you for recovering their own mistake, which they will not at all expect from you. Consider that it takes very little from us but will mean a great deal more to them.

What happened in both examples was that you switched the situation around so the bad situation almost helped us to represent ourselves better. Why? – Because it shows that we really do care about our guests.

Wrap up

Now we have been through The Recovery principle. Remember:

– It is our chance to show that we really care about our guests

– We want to give them an experience beyond their expectations

– When an incident occurs in the bar it is an opportunity for us to represent ourselves better

Ask yourself these questions:

– Did I handle the situation well?

– Could I have handled the situation in a better way?

– Could I have done more?

– How would I have felt if this happened to me?

– How would I have wanted to be treated?

The end or the beginning?

We hope that you have enjoyed reading this book and that each chapter of our Brand Principles has helped you to realize your own potential as a person in the quest to becoming the best version of yourself!

This is the beauty of JOE & THE JUICE, we cannot tell you what to do, we can only inspire you to be better. This is the reason for us providing the most authentic and caring experience for all types of guests who visit our stores around the world. We could not do this without you – the Juicers!

The Book of Brand Principles is actually only the beginning of our Brand Behaviour program in JOE & THE JUICE. The next step is to go deeper into the understanding of Brand Behaviour and the concept of why, which transcends through everything we do in JOE & THE JUICE.

Now it is time to go back out there and kick some ass! Remember what you have learned through these Brand Principles, be the best version of yourself and go out there and prove that JOE & THE JUICE is much more than what we serve!

Good luck!

Choose your bar type

If your bar has separate Send-Out and Till Area, choose Icon Bar (New). If they are together choose Icon Bar (Legacy).
After reading this module you should be familiar with the following terms:
Brand Behaviour

Brand Behaviour is how we naturally behave in the stores. It is what we use to define ourselves collectively as a brand and to differentiate us from every other concept. Brand Behaviour is primarily centred around not providing traditional service to our guests but instead inclusion and a more authentic attitude. We have several training modules which elaborate in detail our Brand Behaviour and Brand Principles which can be found in the Juicer JQ Graduation level.

Go to Definition Page →
IMS

‘Ingredients, Measurement, Sequence’. What is in the product, how much of each ingredient and in which order it is added to the product.

Go to Definition Page →