The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is bringing an extra layer of mobile compatibility to its physical stores after its upcoming rebrand with integrated mobile charging stations that encourage users to engage with the brand on mobile.

The mobile charging stations are provided by ZON. The Coffee Bean is hoping that by encouraging consumers to use their mobile devices in the store, they will be more likely to engage with the brand?s mobile application.

"The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf has been focusing on driving innovation for our guests since 1963,? said Tim Welsh, vice president of development at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

For a few years now, brands have had to deal with the problem of convincing the world that mobile is a great way to engage with customers.

Now, however, that idea is taken as a simple truth of the marketing world. 

The problem it then creates is that now every brand knows that mobile is a key part of the marketing arsenal. This means the market is crowded with mobile apps and mobile campaigns all encouraging consumers to engage.

The new problem facing brands is not how to convince consumers that mobile brand apps work, it?s how to convince consumers that their mobile app works specifically.

The Coffee Bean is tackling this problem head on with an upcoming rebrand of its stores and digital presence.

The rebranded stores will now come with mobile charging stations from ZON. 

These charging stations will be situated on all tables within a store, letting consumers drink their coffee and eat snacks at their leisure, all while charging their phones.

In addition to being convenient and a selling point for consumers to drop into the store, these charging stations serve a second purpose by encouraging consumers to engage with The Coffee Bean on mobile.

With their phones fully charged, consumers will be primed and ready to download and engage with The Coffee Bean?s mobile app.

The bonus is that even if they do not end up using the app, the charging station still works as a nice commodity to drive up foot traffic.

While mobile is undoubtedly an important aspect of the mobile world, it can be even more important for small to mid-size brands.

While giants in the coffee world, such as Starbucks and Dunkin? Donuts, have a massive amount of resources that can support a robust marketing effort, smaller brands do not.

The Coffee Bean, while certainly large by most standards, is less so compared to its titanic competition. Mobile helps democratize the space and gives smaller brands the means to compete with larger ones, as an executive form The Coffee Bean said earlier last month at Mobile Marketer?s Mobile FirstLook Conference (see story).

The Coffee Bean is particularly invested in gathering new customers to its mobile presence due to the recent release of its mobile rewards app, which, while new, has the full weight of the company?s marketing and development budgets behind it (see story).

The Coffee Bean is hoping that the introduction of mobile charging stations will catalyze even more customers to join its mobile network, a move that will likely pay off in the long run.

?From the invention of our Ice Blended beverage to our new partnership with ZON, we are always looking to improve our guest's experience," Mr. Welsh said.