About the author💡Paul Tanner is an experienced hospitality operator with a strong track record in managing and scaling restaurants. Currently, Paul serves as the Managing Director at CUPP, overseeing strategic operations and expansion. His previous roles include Area Manager at Hana Group and Area Manager at Warren’s Bakery, where he played a key role in optimising performance across multiple locations. Passionate about innovation in the hospitality sector, Paul focuses on integrating technology to improve restaurant operations, enhance customer experiences, and streamline workflows.
Customers today are more discerning than ever, seeking brands that align with their values and deliver genuine, high-quality experiences. This is where brand loyalty plays an essential role in hospitality success.
When you build brand loyalty, you develop a customer base that trusts you. They keep coming back for more and spread the word about your business — two things that any hospitality business is grateful for.
But how do you build brand loyalty?
Fortunately, I’ve got some answers. In my time at CUPP, we’ve honed in on our brand values and built a loyal customer base that trusts our brand. Here are some of the tactics we used.
1. Recognise your USPs
Unique selling points (USPs) are the qualities that distinguish you from competitors, like special flavours, sustainability practices, or exceptional quality.
Look at CUPP as an example. Our founder, Lee Peacock, discovered bubble tea while teaching in Taiwan and fell in love with the culture of the country. The bubble tea homeland. When he brought the concept to the UK, he wanted to do it the right way — using real fruit, real sugar, loose-leaf tea, and premium milk rather than artificial powders and syrups.
And so our brand identity has been shaped by a commitment to real ingredients, a strong sense of community, and an unwavering focus on quality. These principles have remained unchanged since we first opened our doors in 2012.
As a result, our customers know that CUPP delivers more than just bubble tea — they’re getting a high-quality, authentic experience made with real ingredients.
This commitment to quality and craftsmanship has built trust and loyalty with our core customers. They return because they like our product and they value what we stand for, so think about this when building your brand identity.
So how do you pinpoint your own USPs?
Here’s what I’d suggest:
- Identify core strengths. Think about what your business does best. Is it your signature dish, exceptional service, unique ambiance, or sustainable practices? These could be key USPs.
- Understand customer preferences. Gather feedback from customers to see what they love most about your restaurant or cafe. Is it your fast service, family-friendly atmosphere, or local ingredients? Understanding their preferences can help highlight your USPs.
- Evaluate the competition. Look at nearby competitors. What do they offer that you don’t? What do you do differently that resonates more with customers? This helps define what makes your operation unique.
- Review your brand story. Reflect on your restaurant’s history or concept. What inspired you to open the doors? Is it a family tradition, a focus on a specific culinary style, or a commitment to sustainability? These elements shape your USP.
2. Deliver a consistent customer experience at every touchpoint
From the moment a customer first hears about your drinks to the time they leave, every interaction should reflect the same values, quality, and atmosphere that your brand stands for. It creates a seamless experience for your customers and reinforces your brand identity.
For example, if your brand is known for its premium bubble tea, this should be reflected at every touchpoint. When customers visit your website or social media, they should see high-quality visuals of your drinks and messaging that highlights your commitment to authenticity.
In-store, the experience should match. Staff should be knowledgeable about tea origins, preparation methods, and customisation options. Even small details (like the way drinks are presented and the consistency of flavours) reinforce your brand identity.
Here are a couple of ways to deliver a consistent customer experience:
- Use the same design, tone of voice, and imagery on different channels. Whether customers discover your business online through your website or social media, or by word of mouth, the initial experience sets the tone. A consistent brand message across all these platforms ensures customers have clear expectations when they arrive.
- Align online and offline interactions. Engaging with customers via social media, email, and your website should mirror the in-person experience. For example, if your social media showcases creative drinks, your menu should reflect these drinks. If your website promises easy online reservations, the booking system should be intuitive and seamless. This reinforces the brand promise across every touchpoint.
If you’re thinking, “What about if I operate multiple sites? How do I ensure consistency across different locations?”, don’t worry. CUPP is a franchise, so I understand your concern.
We rely on our franchise partners to push our brand forward and ensure consistency. It requires a lot of trust, open communication, and solid training.
This is where our Trainers play a vital role. They support franchisees by maintaining high standards, ensuring that every bubble tea reflects the brand’s core values. This includes weekly check-ins and regular audits to ensure all locations meet brand standards.
Here are some tips for ensuring a consistent customer experience across multiple locations:
- Create clear brand guidelines. Provide detailed brand manuals or guidelines that cover everything from menu presentation to staff uniforms, ensuring uniformity across locations.
- Standardise training. Ensure all employees, especially franchisees, receive comprehensive training on brand values, quality standards, and customer service expectations.
- Encourage open communication. Keep the lines of communication open between franchisees, managers, and trainers. That way, franchisees feel comfortable asking questions or clarifying how to align with brand objectives.
Find out more about maintaining brand quality when franchising.
3. Implement loyalty programmes
By rewarding customers for frequent visits — whether through discounts, free items, or exclusive perks — a loyalty programme gives customers a compelling reason to choose your restaurant or cafe over competitors.
To create a loyalty programme, start by deciding what you want to achieve. Do you want to increase repeat visits? Boost average spend per customer? Attract new diners? Your programme structure should align with these goals.
Then, choose the right loyalty programme that fits your restaurant’s brand and customer behaviour. Here are the common options:
- Points-based. Customers earn points for every purchase and redeem them for rewards. For example, 10 points = free bubble tea.
- Punch card. A simple “buy x, get 1 free” system. For example, buy two cups of coffee and get one free.
- Subscription models. Monthly memberships offering perks like discounts, priority reservations or free drinks.
Our loyalty programme has been one of the most effective strategies we’ve implemented. Our current stamp system (which rewards frequent purchases with a free bubble tea), has been a massive success. We’re now transitioning to a points-based system, which will offer even greater flexibility and incentives.
Beyond simply rewarding purchases, the app allows us to engage with customers directly, offering tailored promotions and incentives. The ability to push targeted deals has been instrumental in deepening customer engagement.
4. Use social media to boost engagement
Social media plays an integral role in building relationships with customers. It showcases your brand personality and allows them to engage with you directly — both are key to boosting loyalty.
Take a look at our Instagram post below. On National Boba Tea Day, we post about our in-store promotions, including 100 free boba teas per store. We see a massive spike in engagement, loyalty sign-ups, and in-store visits off the back of these posts.
When posting on social media, we’ve also learned that visually compelling content is key. We have great designers and skilled photographers who create top-quality social media posts. This really sets us apart from some of our competitors out there, so think about this when you’re creating social content.
Are your posts different from your competitors? Are the images and videos high-quality? If the answer is “no”, you might want to revisit your social content.
A word of advice: Figure out where your audience spends their time to use the right platforms. It would be a waste to spend time and money posting on channels that your audience doesn’t use.
At CUPP, we primarily target a diverse audience ranging from teenagers (13+) to adults in their late 30s, with a strong appeal among female customers. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok are where our audience spends their time, so we use these channels.
Here’s how to pinpoint the right channels for your ideal audience:
- Analyse your existing customers. Review sales data, loyalty programmes, or in-store interactions to pinpoint your ideal demographic.
- Monitor competitors. Identify where similar restaurants engage their audience and which types of content perform best for them.
- Test different platforms. Experiment with posting on various channels and track which ones generate the most engagement.
- Check industry trends. Research where your target demographic is most active online and stay updated on shifting social media preferences.
5. Build brand advocacy from within
Brand advocacy doesn’t just come from marketing — it starts from within.
Think about it — front-of-house employees deal with customers on a daily basis, meaning they can directly influence the customer experience. To really push your brand values across and provide a top-notch customer experience, you need employees to understand:
- What your values are
- How to incorporate these values into their interactions
For example, consider a cafe known for its sustainability. At this cafe, employees are trained to highlight eco-friendly practices (such as sourcing locally or using compostable packaging) when talking to customers.
This reinforces the brand’s commitment to the environment. Plus, it allows employees to authentically share brand values with guests, creating a stronger connection to the cafe’s identity.
And when guests feel a strong connection to a dining establishment, they’re more likely to return.
Wondering how to build brand advocacy? Here are some pointers:
- Provide training and knowledge. Ensure your team is well-informed about your brand, menu, and values. The more they know, the better they can communicate and advocate your brand to customers.
- Lead by example. Leadership should actively model brand advocacy. When managers and owners demonstrate their passion for the restaurant, it sets the tone for the rest of the team.
- Foster employee pride. Create a sense of ownership in the brand’s success. When employees feel personally invested in the restaurant’s growth, they’re more likely to advocate the brand to customers. At CUPP, for example, we involve employees at every level in decision-making. This fosters a sense of ownership and pride, which ultimately translates into better customer experiences.
6. Listen to your customers
Customer feedback should be at the core of your decision-making process. If you’re adding a new menu item, changing a recipe — whatever it is, you need customer feedback to determine if it’s the right move.
Recently, we changed one of our recipes only to find that our core customers weren’t happy with it. We did lots of testing on the recipe beforehand to ensure top-quality tea. But at the end of the day, that doesn’t matter if your core customers aren’t happy.
Their feedback prompted us to revert to the original formula. As a result, they’re happier and more likely to return for the tea they love. Had we kept the old recipe, we might have lost some loyal customers.
Listening to feedback also shows customers that you value their opinions. Acting on their feedback builds trust, encouraging repeat visits.
Here are some of the best ways to gather customer feedback:
- Send online surveys. Send follow-up emails or text messages with a link to a short survey asking customers about their experience.
- Use social media. Monitor social media platforms where customers may leave reviews or comments. Or post polls and Q&As on your channels to gather quick insights.
- Encourage in-person conversations. Train your staff to ask customers directly how their meal was or if there’s anything they’d suggest for improvement.
- Look at online review platforms. Keep an eye on popular review sites like Google, Yelp, or TripAdvisor for customer insights and ratings.
- Allow people to provide feedback through loyalty programmes. Include a feedback option within your loyalty app or website, making it easy for customers to share their experiences. At CUPP, we gather feedback through the “Spill the Tea” feature on our app, as well as analysing our Google reviews. It provides invaluable insights into what’s working and what isn’t.
A word of advice: When looking through reviews, focus on anything that indicates how you can improve your food and drink. We’re always looking at anything to do with our product — the flavour, taste, texture, and so on. We want to know about it so we can create the best possible tea for our customers.
Final thoughts
We’ve worked really hard to maintain our brand values. As a result, customers who have been with us since the beginning continue to support us, and new customers are drawn in by the same authenticity and quality that have defined us from day one.
Follow the steps above to head in a similar direction. When you build a solid brand reputation and have a clear idea of your brand values, people can see it. And the best part? They come back for more.
For more advice on how to build a loyal customer base and enhance restaurant operations, read through the other blogs in Nory’s Operator to Operator series:
