In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing, host Roman Kirsch interviews Ralph Hage, Founder of LAP Coffee (Life Among People). LAP Coffee is revolutionizing the European coffee market by creating a lifestyle brand that merges micro-retail efficiency with community-driven marketing. In Berlin, where McCafe dominates with 70% market share, LAP Coffee is carving out a new category by focusing on affordable premium coffee, authentic community building, and data-driven product development. Through their innovative approach to retail and marketing, they’ve grown from a single location to a rapidly expanding brand that’s caught the attention of major athletic brands and cultural icons.

Topics Discussed:

• Building a community-first brand in a commoditized market
• Leveraging micro-retail (30-50sqm stores) for capital efficiency
• Creating viral guerrilla marketing campaigns in competitive markets
• Developing a data-driven approach to product development through customer feedback
• Scaling authentic community engagement across multiple locations
• Balancing premium quality with accessible pricing

Lessons For Consumer Marketers:

1. Leverage Physical Space as a Marketing Platform Rather than viewing retail locations as mere distribution points, LAP Coffee treats their micro-retail spaces as marketing platforms. Their 30-50sqm store format enables rapid expansion while maintaining profitability, creating multiple touchpoints for brand discovery and community building.
2. Transform Customer Feedback into Product Innovation LAP Coffee built a loyalty wallet that goes beyond points – it’s a product development tool. They send targeted surveys about potential new products, letting customers vote on everything from packaging colors to bean origins. This creates both emotional investment and ensures product-market fit before launch.
3. Execute Attention-Grabbing Guerrilla Marketing Their protest campaign against high coffee prices, staged strategically when Starbucks opened across the street, generated significant press and social media attention. By positioning themselves as champions of affordable premium coffee, they created a clear brand narrative that resonated with their target market.
4. Structure Community Building Around Lifestyle Verticals LAP Coffee organizes their marketing and partnerships around three clear verticals: sports, music/fashion, and F&B. This framework helps them systematically build relevant partnerships (Adidas, Highsnobiety, On Running) while maintaining brand consistency.
5. Use Loyalty Programs as Relationship Tools, Not Transaction Drivers Instead of focusing solely on purchase frequency, LAP Coffee’s loyalty program creates ongoing dialogue with customers through feedback loops, event invitations, and product development input. This transforms transactional customers into brand stakeholders.
6. Create Content That Matches Modern Consumption Habits LAP Coffee adapted the “third space” concept for today’s fast-paced lifestyle, focusing on quick but meaningful interactions rather than long laptop sessions. Their marketing content follows the same principle – short-format, culture-focused content that mirrors how their audience consumes media.