Case Study : Starbucks And Brand Image

The survey questions mostly consisted of multiple choice questions, two open-ended questions, allowing written responses, and one qualitative response question. These questions were chosen to establish consumers differences and comparative perspective of Starbuck’s competitors, their daily usage of the social media platforms, the coffee shops visited frequently, and their opinions on consumers who frequent Starbucks. The survey contains one matrix/rating scale question ( Appendix I, Question 5) based on how important qualities are when choosing a coffee shop. Lastly, there were two demographic questions. The demographic questions are for a general understanding on consumers behavior based on age group and gender. For an overview of the survey, see appendix I.

(3a): What trade-offs has Starbucks made? What different activity choices has it made from its rivals?

Starbucks has developed a brand image that has revolutionized coffee drinking experience. It has created an ambiance that is designed to attract customers and keep them coming back to Starbucks stores. It offers wide varieties of services such as comfortable seating areas with unique music and free wireless Internet for their customers while sipping their favorite coffee. This distinctiveness sets Starbucks apart from most of its competitors and has allowed the company to successfully grow and profit while charging premium prices for their products.

There are a number of differences between the Starbucks of 1992 and the Starbucks of 2002.

Starbucks has been a brand that consumers have been able to identify with for quiet some time. By doing so, Starbucks would be able to ensure that their clientele is satisfied and forget about the barriers in which the company has had to face but still manage to continuously expand in the marketplace. With that being said, all customers are valuable, but those customers that meet specific criteria within an organization; such as, placing large orders and or buying products that are at a high profit margin, these are the customers that are not only profitable but are also the ones that are the highly satisfied with the product and its brand recognition. If

Similarly, companies such as Starbucks was affected by changes in leadership and competing with other companies that also saturated the market. Starbuck was a very successful company because they was able to provide a relaxed atmosphere that allowed people to converse with family and friends, have meeting, read, and use internet access all while drinking a cup of coffee. Starbucks customer flow was beginning to decline because the customer were growing tired of spending $4 for a cup of coffee when they can get similar coffee at the competitor i.e. McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, or Seattle’s Best. In 2008, Starbucks listened to the customer and began revitalizing and going back to the basics. They removed distracting items from countertops such as books, CDs, breakfast sandwiches and began to focus on the product itself which was coffee. In making these changes, Starbucks was able to slowly start growing again and was able to continue to make strive to internationalize.

Starbucks takes great pride and recognition in their diverse organization that aligns with their core values.

In 1971 Starbucks started as a small coffee shop that specialized in selling whole arabica beans in Seattle’s Pike Place market. After being inspired by Milan’s coffee culture - especially the role it espresso bars played in the Italians’ everyday social lives - Starbucks opened an espresso bar in the corner of their shop. Their ideal was to create a ‘third place’ - besides home and work - where people could relax and enjoy a good cup of coffee (Moon & Quelch, 2006). Over two decades the company enlarged and served over 20 million unique customers in over 5,000 stores around the world. Their brand strategy could best be described as ‘live coffee’, which meant creating an ‘experience’ around the consumption of coffee that fitted into people 's everyday lives (Moon & Quelch, 2006). Three components were fundamental for their branding strategy. First of all, the coffee itself which should represent the highest-quality coffee in the world, derived from Africa, Central and South America, and the Asia-Pacific regions (Moon & Quelch, 2006). Secondly, the atmosphere should be inviting and make customers feel comfortable. The ambiance in stores should make customers want to stay (Moon & Quelch, 2006). Thirdly, service - customer intimacy - is a key factor within their brand strategy, which aims to create an experience for the customers, and aims at building customer loyalty (Moon & Quelch, 2006). The employees - called ‘partners’ - are

Starbucks has put heavy concentration on product innovation, new product launches and branding strategies and as a result, the company has lost sight of the customer’s wants and needs. Ultimately, Starbucks is not properly or correctly measuring customer satisfaction. They are basing these scores on characteristics affecting the product, and not precisely measuring the quality of their services. As Exhibit 10 from the case study shows, Starbucks’ customers ranked a clean and convenient store as the most important attributes of creating customer satisfaction. As marketing research is beginning to reveal, this should not be the only focus. Starbucks needs to shift their priorities and rank fast service, customer experience, and atmosphere as most important, as new studies suggest.

Starbucks primarily targets coffee drinkers. These segments comprise of adults, young adults and Kids and Teens. Starbucks offers its customers a total brand experience which stretches beyond the consumption of the bevergae. The experience includes excellent customer service, gold card loyalty program, specialty coffee drinks, unique drink names, its dedication towards social responsibility, elegant looking coffee shops.

Starbucks has discovered that they are not always meeting their customers’ expectations in the area of customer satisfaction. Starbucks has to come up with an action plan to address this issue, considering its significant correlation and impact to sales and profitability.

Consumer behavior: Starbucks hold approximately 33 percentage of market share in U.S. however, half of this huge number accounted by guys who aged at 25- 40(Chorn, 2013). Obviously, primary target audience of Starbucks is this grouped people. The characteristic of them is relatively high income, professional careers and a focus on social welfare. Motivation of consuming of these guys to Starbucks certainly for entertainment, enjoy life and pursuit of fashion and communication. The sub target customers is young adults who aged at 18-24, Starbucks position itself as a place college student can hang out, studying, writing paper and meeting. The rest customers of Starbucks are kids and teens who get there by their parents.

Starbucks has discovered that they are not always meeting their customers’ expectations in the area of customer satisfaction. Starbucks has to come up with an action plan to address this issue, considering its significant correlation and impact to sales and profitability.

A company that I frequently visit on a semi-regular basis is Starbucks. Starbucks is a popular company that is recognized internationally and specializes in premium roast coffee, as well as other beverages. Starbucks, according to The Richest, is currently the power house of the coffee world. They are not only known for selling high quality coffee, but also providing an inviting atmosphere with good music and comfortable seats. Starbucks’ mission is, “to inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time”. The company’s success can be credited to this distinctive mission.

Later beans are sold in primarily company-operated stores along with fresh, rich-brewed coffee, Italian-style espresso beverages, decaffeinated beverages, cold blended beverages, variety of pastries and confections, coffee-related accessories and equipment, and a line of premium teas. Retail sales brake down is roughly 61 % coffee beverages, 15% whole-bean coffees, 16% food items, and 8% coffee-related products and equipment. Product mix varies with the size and location.