Coffee
And thoughts about marketing
I’ve just written a post over on LinkedIn which was inspired by the fact that I bought a coffee on Monday. I’ve decided that I can expand it slightly and pop it here too, mainly so I can include a couple more photographs.
I don’t often visit Aldershot station, but if you’re going from home to Guildford by train then you need to change there and (usually) wait for 20 minutes. It means the journey takes at least twice as long as it does by car, but it’s relaxing too, and avoids the fun and games of traffic and parking in Surrey’s county town.
Aldershot is an attractive example of the sort of station common across large parts of southern England. The main building is a modest and attractive brick-built structure, and it’s in a much better condition than some. Historically, Aldershot (which until recently still had signs announcing that it was the home of the British army) had a very large military presence, and there is still plenty of army stuff (this is the technical term) that goes on in the local area.
Aldershot has a very clear identity. It’s one of those places that many families in the UK will have heard mentioned if they ever look at family history. Until quite recently, almost every soldier in the country would have gone there at some point (if you live near Catterick or other similarly military places, don’t feel you need to comment), and there’s a long straight road (Queen’s Avenue) which was built solely for Victoria and subsequent monarchs to review their troops, something which wouldn’t take as long these days as it did when Victoria was around (I wonder what they did for toilets during parades back then – probably not a thought to dwell on for too long).
So, as I said, I was in the station on Monday, heading by train (via Guildford) and the Wey Navigation towpath, to a Bank Holiday lunch in Godalming (I’m sure you wanted to know why I was there). While waiting, I decided I had time for a coffee in the newly opened café there (a 20-minute gap between trains isn’t always a bad thing).
What caught my eye was that the café there had found exactly the right tone for an establishment in a town with a long military history. I couldn’t photograph them all, because the door was wedged open, but the signs I could see were absolutely spot on. There are references to deployment, references to Wellington, one about “Shots fired…”, which manages to get in a reference to the town and to the local football team, and one about “Now Stationed at Aldershot”.
It’s the sort of marketing that works so well because it’s in exactly the right place. The next station up the line towards London is Ash Vale, and not a single one of the puns and references would have worked there. Also, Ash Vale has got to be a good candidate for the ugliest station in the entire area, so I can’t really imagine wanting to hang around there for too long, even though there is a café that’s open during peak times.
Anyway, back to the point I was trying to make on LinkedIn, which is that as translators and interpreters, we should all aim to be like that café. Rather than trying to be the same as everybody else (unless your name happens to be Costa, in which case your marketing is already made for you on every high street in the country), we should all aim to stand out as individuals, as real humans (or even as fake humans, if you think you can get away with it).
Basically, this is a post that suggests we all be more like a café in a garrison town in Hampshire.
Now, what milk would you like with that?
Usually, I make a point of coming up with something different in my pleas for your money at the end of these posts, but I think that, just for once “buy me a coffee” fits the bill perfectly, so If, quite understandably, the thought of subscribing is too much to contemplate, but you’ve enjoyed reading something I’ve written, then you also have the option to simply buy me a cup of coffee (contributions may in fact be used to buy a KitKat, but I won’t tell if you don’t ask).