EP. 38: Alfred Coffee and Calidad Beer founder Josh Zad, how do you do branding?
Josh Zad opened his first Alfred Coffee location in 2013 on tree-lined Melrose Place with the trademarked catchphrase, "But First, Coffee.” With his knack for eye-catching design and innate understanding of customer wants, Zad has developed Alfred into the standard bearer on how to successfully marry a brick-and-mortar offering with an enduring, memorable digital presence. After successfully growing to 16 locations now across the U.S. and Japan, Josh has more recently shifted gears and launched his newest concept – Calidad Beer, a Mexican-style lager with a laid-back, California attitude. Less than one year after launch, Calidad can be found in over 900 locations across Southern California, from Whole Foods to Disneyland. He has his B.A. in Economics from Yale University and his M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson in Finance/Real Estate.
In this episode of How Do You Do? Podcast, Ben asks Josh to share how he comes up with the vision for his brands and ensures that his visions are reflected in branding & design (2:23), how Calidad's pre-launch campaign built excitement around the brand before its product was available to enjoy (23:05), the story of how Alfred almost appeared in the Entourage movie and what the mishap taught Josh (29:52), and more.
Follow us!
Josh Zad: @joshfromalfred
How Do You Do? Podcast: @hdydpod
Ben: @benhannani
Website: www.hdydpod.com
Our guests' jams can be found on the "HDYD Jams" playlist on Spotify!