Puccino's satisfies my creative palate

I was out and about with my parents this weekend, helping them buy a new computer. It was no easy task. My dad pretending he knew what he was talking about and my mum not having a clue, but getting angrier by the second at my dad for making words up like wiggahertz.

Anyway, the highlight of the day (apart from the sales assistant's face when my dad said wiggahertz) was the brief lunch we had in between shops.

My mum recommended a cafe that she'd visited before, claiming it was an independent, family run joint with a really friendly feel to it. But how wrong she was. It's true a family ran it. That was obvious by the great service and the suspiciously similar looking brother/sister waiter combo. But it wasn't independent. It was Puccino's - the UK's largest coffee bar franchise.

For my mum, and I suspect thousands of others around the UK, to think it was independent is a beautiful thing for franchise companies like Puccino's. It gives them an edge over corporate rivals like Starbucks, and could be part of the reason for their diminishing sales.

I believe this independent feel and family run atmosphere is created somewhat by the brilliant branding Puccino cafes have created. You can see from the images below that they're all about fun. They are not pretentious. They don't try too hard. And the product is actually good. The kind of brand I like, and would love to write for.

If you can't see the bottom image, the sign reads "Shut Happens".