Commercializing Everyday Mobility: Gramscian Cultural Hegemony in Tuku Coffee's Urban Public Relations Strategy

Abstract

In the saturated coffee industry, brand sustainability relies not merely on product quality, but on constructing brand identities through cultural and lifestyle narratives. This study investigates how Tuku Coffee incorporates urban culture into its public relations (PR) strategies and tactics, and how consumers interpret these communicative practices within the context of daily urban mobility. Focusing on the MRT Cipete Raya outlet in Jakarta—a strategic intersection of public transit, everyday commuting, and lifestyle consumption—the research employs a descriptive qualitative case study design. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews with 10 active consumers, non-participant observations, and textual-visual analysis of brand promotional materials across social media. Drawing on Antonio Gramsci’s concept of cultural hegemony alongside public relations theories, the study evaluates how commercial brand communication constructs urban lifestyle meanings. The findings demonstrate that Tuku Coffee embeds its PR practices within local identity, simplicity, and convenience, utilizing casual tone-of-voice, transit-oriented location placement, and active social media engagement. Through a Gramscian lens, these practices execute cultural hegemony by naturalizing coffee consumption as an essential component of modern urban identity and mobility routines. However, despite successfully integrating local cultural references into consumer habits, the communication remains predominantly top-down and brand-driven, offering limited room for genuine consumer co-creation. This study advances PR scholarship by demonstrating how commercial brand communication negotiates and reproduces urban cultural values in contemporary digital ecosystems.