Kopi Kenangan changes name for MY expansion. But maybe, it didn't need to, say industry players

Popular Indonesian coffee brand Kopi Kenangan is going international, starting with Malaysia where it plans to open up five to 10 stores in Kuala Lumpur alone. In a statement to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, a spokesperson from the brand said it will focus on opening around Klang Valley under the name of Kenangan Coffee. 

The name will be the official one used outside of Indonesia. While the brand is currently focused on Malaysia and Indonesia as of now, it has plans to become one of the “most-loved consumer brands in Southeast Asia”, said the spokesperson. Meanwhile, CEO Edward Tirtanata told CNBC that Kopi Kenangan has long had ambitions for regional growth.

When asked about local competition in Malaysia, the spokesperson said: “We believe every brand has its own specialty and shares its own passions. All exist to give their own unique experience to their customers. For Kenangan Coffee, we strive to serve high-quality products accessible to everyone by serving the products that are well-crafted to combine Asian local taste with global palate.”

Kopi Kenangan is an established name in Indonesia. In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, industry players shared their take on the new name of “Kenangan Coffee”.  Anish Daryani CEO of M&C Saatchi said the beauty of Kopi Kenangan’s name is in the meaning which loosely translates to "Memories over coffee" in English.  As such, he is of the view that the brand should retain it.

“The name has an emotional leap that makes its coffee more than a product or commodity. I believe strongly that it should retain its brand as it looks at expanding across markets,” said Daryani. He added that given the similarity in language between Malaysia and Indonesia (Bahasa Melayu for the former, and Bahasa Indonesia for the latter), the origins of the name, Kopi Kenangan would have been a perfect fit.

“Perhaps the brand should retain 'Kopi' in the markets [it expands into], because that makes it authentically Indonesian, which is a good reason for people to try it. To support that argument, Kopiko from Mayora, another indigenous homegrown brand, sells well by the same name in the Philippines. Likewise, Indomie is Nigeria's largest selling noodles, without having to call in Indo Noodles,” he added.

Joyce Hutapea, market lead at PRecious Indonesia added that Kopi Kenangan is a well-known, top-of-mind Indonesia local coffee brand. With the plans of going international, keeping the brand name consistent, would be her advice, for long-term business growth.

"The main reason is that the name represents Indonesia, in Bahasa Indonesia and showcases Indonesia’s commodity being able to compete with international coffee brands. Changing to another name will potentially set the brand apart from its origin and thus, the original Kopi Kenangan name will only be known limited to Indonesians,” Hutapea said.

This might in turn cause confusion as international investors already know the brand as "Kopi Kenangan", and the coffee fans (or Indonesians that lives abroad, or those who already visited Indonesia and taste the coffee) also know the name as "Kopi Kenangan".

“If the name is changed, a step-back action is needed to ‘re-introduce’ the brand again while clarifying the change of the name. It should not sound like two different brands - instead it should strengthen and enhance the brand equity that there is only one Kopi Kenangan,” she added.

Local is in

“In Malaysia, we are seeing a trend of brand names that play up in the local flavours by using colloquial language that is easily identified by the locals, especially among Gen Y, Gen Z and Millennials,” said Joey Gan, market lead at PRecious Communications Malaysia. Many F&B outlets have used localised names, yet serve up both local and western cuisines.

Sharing instances of playing up localisation, Gan said a Vietnamese cafe adopted a local flavour in Malaysia by naming their cafe Kopi Kawan Kawan (means friends coffee). Another cafe called itself LOKL, which reads as lokal in Bahasa, the term for local.

"The name may not be immediately identified by foreigners but most locals, regardless of ethnicity, would have figured that out for sure,” said Gan. She added that while Kopi Kenangan sounds poetic and meaningful, when expanding to new markets, a name that is seen as more local could be more beneficial in its reach to the masses in the market.

Sutapa Bhattacharya, managing director of DIA Brands Malaysia, shared that a brand represents far more than just a name. It manifests itself through associations, visual and verbal imagery, expression and experiences. Given the similarity between Indonesia and Malaysia linguistically, the current name is quite evocative of the coffee drinking experience. However, it may not be so as the brand grows to other international markets and other younger customers, she explained.

But arguing that the change isn’t a drastic one is Dominic Mason, managing director of the SEA region at Sedgwick Richardson. He said that this stops from distorting the meaning behind the name, and the purpose of memories, heritage, and tradition remains consistent.

He added that a coffee brand from Indonesia travelling internationally might draw down on the provenance and authenticity of the product itself: the source of origin of its specialty coffees that is already world-renowned. 

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