A Japanese company is developing a novel way to connect college students to corporate recruiters: offer free coffee at its cafes in exchange for giving up some personal information.
Shiru Cafe has opened 20 stores in Japan and India since 2013. It opened its first U.S. cafe this spring near near Brown University in Providence.
Reporter Graham Ambrose wrote about this for The Boston Globe. He tells me the company plans to open similar cafes in Amherst and New Haven.
Graham Ambrose, Boston Globe: Shiru is trying to get what they call “corporate sponsors” to basically fund the cafe in exchange for an agreement that would allow these corporate sponsors to advertise to Shiru's clients.
The clients give up some information about themselves -- their email, what they're studying in school, what they're interested in professionally -- and in exchange for free coffee, they agree to be advertised to, at this cafe, essentially.
Kari Njiiri, NEPR: Just the coffee is free, or they offer tea as well, right?
It's coffee, tea, juice and they also sell pastries, which costs a little bit of money, but are not terribly expensive.
This is free to just students only, correct?
Yeah. It's open for all students at universities and colleges. Faculty and other university personnel can also sign up for the services. Although faculty and other personnel will have to pay $1 for drinks.
What's been the reaction from customers in Providence?
Most people I've spoken with who have signed up for the service are pretty content with it. I mean, they get free drinks, and a nice study space, in exchange for information that, in many cases, is already in the public domain.
I spoke with many students who said, "You know, my e-mails are already online. What I'm studying is already online. I have a Facebook, I have a LinkedIn page." Many of them have other social media applications where this information is public, and they didn't really feel like they were giving up anything particularly valuable.
In fact, they said that they were already giving up information in many of their contacts, and at least this time, they're getting compensated for it with free drinks.
Were there any customers who expressed concerns about privacy issues, or that their personal data might be somehow compromised?
I didn't speak to any customers who were concerned. I did speak to a few Brown students who were present for the opening of the store in March, and were very much spectators to the entire phenomenon on their campus.
Their concerns were mostly with the general corporatization of their school. They had seen that a lot of companies were trying to recruit students, and they felt that the company's tactics and maybe aggressiveness were not becoming of a liberal arts college. But they were not really concerned about privacy as much as they were about corporatization.
I understand that the company plans to expand to other elite schools in New England, including Amherst and New Haven. What's the purpose there?
The company is hoping to open new stores by October 1. The hope is to basically offer enticing recruiting opportunities for their corporate sponsors with some of the most impressive schools in the country.
The thinking is that companies who are looking to recruit, they'll want these really impressive students, and so they can be on the ground and in these communities where many of the nation's best schools are, they'll be able to make it that much easier to get corporate sponsors.
Last question: how's the coffee?
The Providence store manager explained to me that the coffees and teas are from New England shops, and they're sourced really well, and that they take great pride in the quality.
