Behind Kopi Kenangan's decision to name its international chains Kenangan Coffee

Kopi Kenangan might have become a household name in Indonesia but to match its ambitions of global domination, the brand knew it had to create a universal brand. This led to the creation of the name Kenangan Coffee ahead of its launch in Malaysia. The term "Kenangan" translates to "making memories". "We used 'Coffee' instead of 'Kopi' because we want our consumers globally to know what we sell and what we are known for," Debbie Yam, AVP of creative told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE in an interview.

According to her, consumers beyond Southeast Asia would not know the meaning of "Kopi" and by using the name Kenangan Coffee, the team believes that the name is still true to its roots without having to distort its meaning. Meanwhile, co-founder and chief business development officer, James Prananto, previously said during the official opening in Malaysia that the team chose Kenangan Coffee as the official international name because it wanted to emphasise on the word "Kenangan".

The coffee brand worked with Superunion to come up with a new name. Consumer research was carried out in 15 countries, including China and the Middle East, as well as the West and the team tested different variations of "Kopi Kenangan" before landing on Kenangan Coffee.

Yam (pictured below right) said the fact that Superunion has an Indonesian office also helped because they had people on the ground who know Kopi Kenangan very well. So that also helped shape the branding, language, and how it should communicate to a new audience.

Meanwhile, Ambrish Chaudhry (pictured above left), the agency's MD of Singapore, Indonesia, and India, told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that the name "Kenangan" doesn't roll off the tongue easily in other parts of the world. 

"When we did consumer research, they found that consumers were reacting to the novelty of the brand name, clearly suggesting that this isn't necessarily common in their part of the world," Chaudhry said. He added that by using the name Kenangan Coffee, it shows that the brand is really trying to bring out its uniqueness and is now shying away from its own DNA. "In some sense, the spirit of Indonesia is quite enmeshed in the brand and that's what we are exporting to the world," he added.

In addition to the name, the team also tested out the visual identity to see how consumers were responding to it. "I think there was a lot of positivity. We were also looking at elements of the coffee experience, and which elements are the most key to ensure how the brand performs against them to ensure that we really captured a strong brand," Chaudhry explained.

According to him, there is a certain authenticity and openness in the brand that the team has tried to capture as well. "It's not a cookie-cutter coffee brand. It really is a brand with a lot of personality and quirkiness coming through both in terms of communication and brand identity. So in some sense, it is confident of embracing its own Indonesian-ness," he said. Hence, knowing that there is a massive customer base globally that will resonate well with the new name, the Chaudhry said the team decided to double down on Kenangan Coffee.

Kenangan Coffee is now available at Suria KLCC in Malaysia and the brand plans to open four more stores in MyTown Cheras, Pavilion KL, NU Sentral KL and Sunway Pyramid PJ by the end of the year. Malaysia was chosen as the first country for its international expansion due to Malaysians' love for food and the steady growth in coffee culture, especially the grab-and-go concept. CEO and co-founder Edward Tirtanata also said previously that Malaysians and Indonesians also share many similarities when it comes to taste profile and receptivity to try new things.

"The F&B sector's future also appears promising as Malaysia is transforming into a high-income digital economy with a key focus on digitisation, which is in line with our business operations," he explained. Bernama also previously reported that the brand wants to have up to 10 outlets in the country by the end of the first quarter of next year. To solidify its marketing plans, the team brought on board Quennie Tan as head of marketing.

On the day of opening, Yam said the brand sold 1,442 cups of coffee. When asked about its possible expansion plans into other Southeast Asian markets, Yam said it wants to first establish its footing within Malaysia. While it is optimistic about future markets, she declined to share more about the brand's expansion plans.

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