Three Coffee Brands, Three Winning Strategies: Why Knowing your Consumer and Effective Positioning matters now more than ever
As consumer expectations shift and competition intensifies, the coffee brands gaining ground in Canada are the ones leaning into insight, emotion, and purposeful positioning.
After presenting our latest work on consumer sentiment and the motivations behind coffee purchasing at the annual Coffee Association Conference, one of the themes that has continued to resonate – the importance of truly understanding your consumer and the role you, as a brand, and a business, play in their lives.
Marketers sometimes default to viewing competitive strategy as a series of trade-offs: premium or value, experience or convenience, loyalty or trial. It’s a familiar narrative, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. Insights from IMI’s May 2025 CategoryPulse™ study, based on 4,127 Canadian coffee purchasers, point to a more layered and balanced reality.
Starbucks, Tim Hortons, and McCafé each attract distinct consumer segments with different emotional drivers, digital behaviors, and purchase motivations. Rather than competing on identical attributes, each brand succeeds by owning differentiated positioning that resonates with specific consumer values.
Your positioning and how you speak to consumers matters more than ever!
Understanding these distinctions helps marketers identify where their brand can win and what the sweet spot is to effectively move forward one step at a time.
The competitive positioning trap
When coffee brands compete primarily on price or product features, margins are compressed because they are not looking to connect on an emotional and behavioral level, homing in on the differences that actually drive consumer choice.
Now, this could ring true for many categories, not only coffee.
Our CategoryPulse™ data consistently reveals: consumers select coffee brands based on alignment with personal values, lifestyle patterns, and emotional needs - not just proximity or price point.
The strategic opportunity lies in understanding which consumer segments naturally align with your brand's strengths, then deepening that connection rather than chasing universal appeal. Brands that try to be everything to everyone typically end up meaning less to their core consumers while failing to convert competitors' customers or those coveted “switchers” effectively.
I’ll take you through a few examples:
Starbucks: The premium experience position
Starbucks consumers lead the category in emotion-driven purchasing. Among Starbucks buyers, 72% purchase because the brand makes them feel good, the highest rate across major coffee brands. This emotional connection extends beyond the product to the entire experience.
These consumers demonstrate distinct behavioral patterns: 93% use YouTube, 75% use Instagram, and 59% use Pinterest, significantly higher visual platform engagement than other coffee brand users. They over-index on cultural activities including concerts, art events, and wellness experiences.
The health-conscious indulgence balance defines this segment: 90% actively try to eat better, while 89% reward themselves with treats. They don't see these as contradictory - premium coffee fits both narratives.
Critically, Starbucks consumers view the brand as delivering great value for money not because prices are low, but because the experience justifies the investment. This creates pricing power that value-focused competitors cannot easily replicate.
This is the Power of Brand.
Tim Hortons: The community connection position
Tim Hortons attracts consumers for whom local connection and national identity matter significantly. Among Tim Hortons customers, 85% actively buy locally grown food - the highest rate across coffee brands surveyed.
This segment demonstrates strong community orientation: over 90% regularly spend time with family and friends, and 83% celebrate major holidays together. The brand serves as a gathering place and shared cultural touchpoint across demographics.
These consumers balance thoughtful spending with quality expectations. While 83% describe themselves as careful with money, 70% willingly pay more for quality products. The Tim Hortons value proposition succeeds because it delivers consistent quality at accessible prices - not cheap, but fair.
The brand maintains broad demographic reach with 78% of its customers on Facebook and 64% on Instagram, reflecting penetration across age groups and life stages that neither Starbucks nor McCafé matches at scale.
…and community is more important than ever right now.
McCafé: The accessible position
McCafé customers demonstrate the highest adoption of emerging technology among coffee brands. Among McCafé purchasers, 62% use AI for search - higher than either Starbucks or Tim Hortons - and 60% actively use ChatGPT. They also lead in practical digital tool usage, with 79% using banking apps regularly.
This tech-forward orientation combines with strong family connection (93% spend regular time with family) and balanced lifestyle priorities (90% prioritize relaxation, 89% try to eat better).
McCafé's positioning as trusted, affordable, and quietly innovative resonates with consumers who value smart choices over status signaling. The brand delivers consistent quality without barriers to entry or premium pricing.
What this means for competitive strategy
These distinct consumer profiles suggest three strategic principles for coffee marketers:
First, avoid positioning that directly mimics competitors' core strengths. Starbucks owns premium experience, Tim Hortons owns community connection, and McCafé owns accessible innovation. Attempting to out-execute competitors on their home territory typically requires unsustainable investment.
Second, deepen connection with consumers who naturally align with your brand's values and positioning. Starbucks gains more from enhancing personalization and experience than from value messaging. Tim Hortons strengthens position through community involvement, not premium repositioning.
Third, emotional purchase drivers matter more than rational product features across all segments. Among all coffee purchasers, 70% buy because brands make them feel good, and 64% purchase after friend recommendations. Functional benefits matter, but emotional connection drives frequency and loyalty.
Competing through differentiation
Canada's coffee category thrives when brands occupy distinct positions that serve different consumer needs rather than competing on identical attributes. Understanding which emotional drivers, digital behaviors, and lifestyle values align with your brand helps focus strategy on deepening existing strengths. So, understand who you are, what you bring to the table, who you want to target and learn everything about them so that you, too, can make that authentic connection and stand out from the crowd.
If you’d like to explore what these insights mean for your own category or brand, I’d be happy to dive deeper with you, feel free to give me a shout.