#Destinationtalk // Keep calm and carry on vs relaxingcafeconleche

Picture January 29th 2014 by Anna Domingo

Let’s recall September 7th 2013.  That was the date Madrid lost its bid to host the Olympic Games for third time and all of citizens of Spain and, of course, Madrid felt sadness.  This was the third bid attempt by the Spanish capital for the games and somehow there was a misinterpretation and overdose of confidence towards the other candidacies.  Let’s face it, today the failed bid attempt is history and only Madrid sadly remembers why it happened. 

Residents of Madrid as well as Spain hope the city can learn from the weaknesses and errors incurred during the Madrid’s Olympic committee bid presentation.  Nevertheless, the most talked about and and embarrassing misstep for Madrid’s citizens was committed during the mayor’s presentation.  Specifically, Mayor Ana Botella's speech left the entire audience dumbfounded, not only because her English was incomprehensible but also because the content was neither selling the warm Madrid hospitality dream nor vibrant Madrid, the city itself.  Even more baffling was the section where Mayor Botella challenged the audience to understand the psychological and relaxing benefits of a cafe con leche #relaxingcafeconleche.  Mmm, let me think, as far as I remember Coffee is meant to be a strong, stimulating product instead of a relaxing beverage.  However, Miss Botella’s challenge may have been referencing another beverage or it was totally lost in translation.  

As a result of Miss Botella’s commentary, the whole country felt like an ostrich.  However, Spanish humor is fast and not to long thereafter we witnessed tons of commentary on the social media channels about Miss Botella's fiasco speech.  Actually, there was a rap/song  posted in less than 24hr that went viral and today @relaxingcup has over 24,000 followers. 

I felt sadness.  I was living in Qatar and I felt sorry for the whole chain of unfortunate events.  As a result of this fiasco, I immediately believed there was a wonderful marketing opportunity - the chance to seize the misfortune and turn the fiasco into a business opportunity.  I envisioned cafeterias from Madrid’s Plaza Mayor advertising "The real relaxing cafe con leche!"  I foresaw the sale of merchandise depicting “The real relaxing café con leche!”

My thinking was based on the British saying "Keep calm and Carry on" that is well understood and repeated all over the world.  In late 1939, after the outbreak of the war, the British Government appointed the Ministry of Information to design a number of morale boosting posters.  The posters would be displayed across the British Isles during the testing times that lay ahead.  “Keep calm and carry on” was forged during WWII.  This saying not only embraced a truly British insight and way of living but also provided soldiers courage to face the adversity of the war.   

Nowadays, the saying is used for everything and there are thousands of versions.  My favorite is: "I am Italian I cannot keep calm."  The saying is such a powerful marketing force that in any London merchandise store you can find dozens of impulse articles with the saying emblazoned on them – everything from key chains to iPhone covers.  I dare you, go online and type “keep calm and carry on” into your search engine.  You will be astonished by the number of pages hits and if you click on images it gets even better.

Picture by Anna Domingo

My ultimate point is a counterpoint.  I recently visited Madrid and I couldn't help myself but to stop by The Plaza Mayor as I was looking forward to a relaxing cafe con leche.  I walked the entire plaza and was extremely disappointed to find no store or coffee shop advertising “a relaxing cafe con leche”.  Not a single advertisement, anywhere!  Really?  Finally, I decided to stop and enjoy a coffee in a most typical, local coffee shop on the plaza.  More importantly, I ordered the coffee saying "A relaxing..."  The waiter looked at me suspiciously, really?  And, of course, later I took a selfie which I immediately posted in Instagram and Facebook to share with my friends.  As a matter of fact, this type of picture can greatly benefit a destination!  Frankly, I was surprised the Madrid and Plaza Mayor coffee shops completely missed the commercial opportunity.  Oh well.

I departed the coffee shop and the Plaza Mayor.  I walked towards Plaza del Sol.  This pedestrian route is the most traversed touristic walk in Madrid.  Along this route, all the shops are filled with kitschy, tourist swag, plenty of retail offer filled with questionable merchandise. I visited a store pretending to be a tourist - easy to fake - and asked for a "relaxing café con leche" souvenir.  Again, they looked at me as if I were from Mars.   Politely they said, “we don't have any”. Was this to mean or were they implying they previously stocked such merchandise, I asked?  No, we just don't carry anything like that but please pay attention to the bullfighter.  Huh, what, really?  Actually, I visited four stores and played the same mystery shopping game. The outcome was always the same.  Again, I think the locals missed a wonderful marketing and branding opportunity.  I would have purchased a trinket, maybe a coffee cup depicting the saying.  The coffee cup would have brought a smile to my face while reinforcing the Madrid message.  

In the case of the real experience, let’s take into consideration that I purposely visited the Plaza Mayor for the sole purpose of this experience.

Dear Madrid people, wake up! You are the only ones that can make it happen