US coffee shop culture stirs up the UK high street.

Ads are the latest weapon in the UK's ongoing coffee chain wars.

Nowadays, beans means business. High-street coffee shops have sprung up all over the UK, creating a whole new market that would have seemed inconceivable a couple of years ago.

According to research, London alone could support 1,500 coffee shops. There are only half that number in the city at the moment, so the choice and the competition is only going to get tougher.

More British people are happy to cough up nearly 2 [pounds sterling] for a cup of coffee every morning. And then there's the lunch break, the shopping break and the mid-afternoon lull -- all of which are, apparently, crying out for a cappuccino.

Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Aroma, Coffee Republic, Caffe Nero and a host of smaller players have all spotted the opportunity and are battling for prime locations as they fuel the growth of the coffee society. The chains are doing everything they can to win the accelerating coffee wars, including price cuts, novelty drinks, relaxing surroundings -- and advertising.

Coffee Republic is the latest coffee chain to seek out an advertising agency (Campaign, last week). The other three big names have already been using press, poster and in-store campaigns to help them stand out from the competition.

Aroma, which is owned by McDonald's, appointed BMP DDB last year. So far, its advertising has been low-key because it does not yet have enough locations to justify a major campaign, but its marketing manager Richard Scott-Clark is committed to advertising in the long term.