Starbucks Essay

I found that the majority of the clientele appeared to be middle or upper class individuals. It became apparent that Starbucks appealed to people of a certain socioeconomic status through their thoughtful use of products, language, décor, and location. Socioeconomic status (SES) is defined as “an individual’s position in a stratified social order,” meaning upper middle, or lower class. SES is primarily determined by income. The remainder of this paper will look at the different ways that Starbucks caters to the more privileged.

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1. What factors accounted for Starbucks’ extraordinary success in the early 1990’s? What was so compelling about the Starbucks’ value proposition? What brand image did Starbucks develop during this period? Is the value proposition still valid in 2002?

In 2007, Apple and Starbucks became partners in the venture of iTunes store. Over time, another entity entered the equation, AT&T. What does this mean to the customer, the dependability of each to provide superior services to their respective products and services? As it is seen within the IT infrastructure, each entity needs to present certain services to keep up the maintenance of the services on each level, to a point to where one, in an ideal world, for logistical reasons, communicate with each other in case of failure.

2) Garthwiate, Craig; Busse, Meghan; Brown, Jennifer; Merkley, Greg “Starbucks: A Story of Growth” Harvard Business Publishing, July 2012.

In general the coffeehouse industry in the United States was experiencing an increase in coffee consumption per capita due to the “Starbucks effect”. At this time Starbucks was operating approximately 20,000 stores in the United States and was living a fast expansion strategy worldwide.

Starbucks faces competition from variety of small-scale specialty coffee chains, such as Caribou Coffee, Peet’s Coffee and Tea, Dunkin Donuts, and thousands of independent specialty coffee shops. Each of them applies different strategies to differentiate itself from Starbucks; some of them deliver highly personalized service.

The problem identified in the report is Chen, the president of Levendary China, has completely changed the core design of the company to give local look and feel. Even the Levendary’s classic wooden framed upholstered chairs are replaced with an alternative of local made plastic chairs by Chen. The change in the taste preferences by the Chinese customers is another problem which made Chen to change the core values of Levendary according to the local demand. The Head-Quarters of Levendary also faced problem with Chen’s stubborn attitude and his reluctance for the change in operations in China. Foster’s leadership is another issue to be considered due to lack of international management experience. The shares of Levendary trading at discount compared to other restaurant stocks and Levendary China clearly states in its income statement: a loss of 143620$ in the year 2010. Inconsistent accounting is another drawback to be considered in the operations of Levendary café in China.

One reason why Starbucks is the best place to go is that they have amazing drinks for each season. One example is that in the summer this year they will come out with brand new drinks just for summer. They taste so good. Some of them are Teavana Shaken Berry Sangria Herbal Tea or Iced Coconut Milk Mocha Macchiato, doesn't that sound so good. Another example is that in the fall they have the most popular drink there, the Pumpkin Spice Latte, This drink is the fall favorite for people. The drinks at Starbucks are so good in each season that if they didn't exist the drinks might have not even been as good as they are now. That's a couple of reasons on why they have really good drinks in the season and that you should go to starbucks especially

Please answer all the following questions as they relate to the case. Please utilize as much outside resources as you deem necessary to reinforce your answers—especially the last question. Remember that this case is over 10 years old and Starbucks has changed since then.

The “Coffee Wars – The Big Three: Starbucks, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts” article focuses on the company analysis of the Starbucks brand and how its main competitors, McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts, has affected their brand and driven competition higher. Even though there are many companies trying to enter the specialty coffee market, these three companies own the majority of the market share. With Starbucks’ top quality and above average prices they hold a different market than the fast coffee/food market of Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks; yet the competitive moves Dunkin’ Donuts has made over the years in order to compete with Starbucks and surpass McDonald’s has driven competition up between all three companies. The competition has stiffened ever more in the past ten years due to the changing economy. This led to “the big three” to come up with different techniques to gain competitive advantage over the other. Although the competition between these companies is to gain most of the market share, consumers are still loyal to a certain brand; this makes it difficult to gain each other’s clientele. McDonald’s continues to appeal to customers who want value and speed, Dunkin’ Donuts focuses on the middle-class, while Starbucks a customer who desires a higher quality product along with being recognized for using the brand.

Many coffee companies are currently in the market, making competition fierce. Although Starbucks has a strong reputation in North America, direct and indirect competitors still pose a threat. To establish market niche, competitors use location,

The most obvious advantage of the card to Starbucks is the guaranteed income. Once people load money on the card it can only be spent at a Starbucks location. It also makes tracking customer purchasing habits and preferences readily available. Then there is the case of the forgotten or lost cards that never get used that equate to pure profit. One last advantage is that with the card they have also created a secondary market for sales by placing the cards in stores like Giant Eagle where people that wouldn’t come into the stores can buy the cards as a gift.

Starbucks provide a large in store seating with free wi fi and a take-out service which only a few retail shops offer. The main target customers for Starbucks are office workers, with enough income, whom are able to afford the high prices of their products (Gaudio, 2003). The company has worked hard to establish itself as the brand leader with its branding as the most frequently drank coffee and noticeable brand logo. Introduction of promotions like the Starbucks Card, allows a more convenient way for a person to
pay for
your
drinks
and
earn
rewards
for
your purchase (Starbucks Coffee Company, 2011).
Furthermore, in‐store
promotions
accompanied
by
new
products and
amenities like free internet use are all strategies that Starbucks use to maintain their position in the market (Vasudha, 2011).

As a well-established coffee retailer and over 35 years of success, Starbucks is at the maturity stage in the product life cycle. It is in this stage that Starbucks needs to shift gears and focus on marketing program modifications by increasing the number of customers and customer visits (Kotler, 2009, pg. 185). While improving service will attract first-time customers and retain current ones, further marketing modifications will need to be made if it wants to continue to grow. More advertising, distribution, sales promotions, and personal selling are a few of the ways to modify the marketing program.