An extra shot: How Costa launched speedy commuter service and kept its trademark warmth

In 2019, Costa Coffee was looking for a better way to meet the needs of consumers in a hurry but without sacrificing the Costa in-store experience, which focused on being warm and comforting; semiotics had the answer.

Semiotics is often used to “decode” a brand, but Costa Coffee and its agency Space Doctors used a semiotic approach, combined with service innovation and experience design, to come up with a next-generation store format aimed at on-the-go commuters.

This began in 2019, when the coffee shop giant was looking to adapt its store formats to be able to better cater to hurried commuters.

Adam Dunt, Global Creative Design Lead at Costa Coffee, told the MRS Semiotics & Cultural Insight Conference (February 2022) that Costa’s stores had come to be seen as inviting and homely spaces, but they all required...

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