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Coffee Shop Advertising Via Its Free WiFi ID
from the today's-specials... dept
Over the years, we've had plenty of discussions over the pros and cons of free vs. fee-based WiFi in restaurants and coffee shops, and these days, for the most part, we're happy to see that free has won out in most cases. However, that doesn't mean there isn't room to experiment, and reader Jon, alerts us to a story of a cafe in Holland, called CoffeeCompany, who is constantly renaming its WiFi SSID name with gentle reminders to buy something. Among the names being rotated around:
OrderAnotherCoffeeAlready, BuyCoffeeForCuteGirlOverThere?, HaveYouTriedCoffeeCake?, BuyAnotherCupYouCheapskate, TodaysSpecialExpresso1.60Euro and BuyaLargeLatterGetBrownieForFreeIt's a cute, and probably somewhat effective way to get the folks hanging out in the coffee shop to feel good about buying something at the shop (though, the cheapskate claim might piss off some).
Reader Comments
(Flattened / Threaded)
Re: Buy another cup of coffee already
The local coffee places here in Palo Alto have a SSID and 60 minute non-peak login on the receipt you get when you buy something. During peak hours when table space is nil, I think that goes down to 15 minutes. Starbucks is free if you use the AT&T WiFi. And Peet's (the progenitor of Starbucks) doesn't have hardly any sitting space in their shops here.
Don't they dispense coffee with an eyedropper in Europe?
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Just the kind of professionalism I seek when scouting out a new coffee place. I enjoy the thrill of being seriously concerned that they may have pissed in the coffee vats
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Re:
Nothing personal, man, but I'm relatively certain you're not their target demographic. Seems like they're going for the people who have already had the stick removed.
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Re:
Since when does coffee come from a vat?
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regardless of its "professionalism", as paul put it, it does have a certain flair that im sure will appeal to the customer base, subtly alerting them "hey, were pretty laid back and enjoy a joke"
if i lived anywhere near Holland id check this out myself
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mmmmmmm
I love the latte brownie combo...
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I don't mind them using the SSID to advertise specials, or for messages like "BuyCoffeeForCuteGirlOverThere?". If they're going to call someone a cheapskate, it's probably best to add a ;) to the end. Sarcasm gets lost in the text easily than through verbal communication, and you just know that 1 in 10 people are not going to get the joke.
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Coffee Shop
Wait a minute... Coffee Shops in Holland have a special meaning. They sell coffee, juice and marijuana (think Amsterdam). I don't think they need any special advertising to get people to buy more coffee or cake since most customers will have the munchies anyway! That said, I think it's a clever idea though.
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Its Holland!
I'm surprised we haven't seen this in the US already!
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This is clearly the type of innovation that proves why IP doesn't work.
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people don't pay attention to SSID's
when i was first learning to use wireshark i opened an access point called "youarebingsniffed" and people still connected and got sniffed.
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I setup a wireless for my company years ago using something like "ForWiFiCallXXXXXXX"
It works! We got a tons of biz that way. If you think it's "unprofessional", well, if it makes me money... :P
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Re: people don't pay attention to SSID's
i've probably mentioned my free wifi AP i run. the one with the trap that give incoming connections a click-through, "this is slow, insecure, and i'll turn it off at random for my own amusement." the one that violates the ISP's TOS. yeah, that one.
anyway, i named it 'notlinksys' to go with the six, count 'em six of the twelve recently sniffable, APs named 'linksys'. i also name it things like 'notthedroidsyourelookingfor', 'whiteandnerdy', 'obscuregeekreferencehere', 'cleverssid'.
when i put on wep i had names like 'passwordiswarchalk' and 'kismetfindswepkeys'. i was still getting visitors connecting through it.
it's a holiday weekend. i should go warchalk the neighborhood again.
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very nice
that nice for me because i like to drink coffee and work
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free admin shop only
hello I need accounts for free online shopping thank you to my send to the leonnel2005@yahoo.fr
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Silver Lining ad supported WiFi
Silver Lining Networks offers a simple and effective way for businesses like this coffee shop to make money on their WiFi. With Silver Lining businesses have complete control on how they monetize their WiFi. They can serve contextually targeted ads or charge a small amount for access (for instance many businesses charge just $1/hour. Learn more at http://www.silverliningnetworks.com
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