Starbucks Brand Identity

Nowadays everybody knows the emblematic green twin-tailed siren design that is the Starbucks' logo, however back in 1971, Starbucks was a single and relatively unknown store, specialised in the roasting and selling of whole bean and ground coffee, tea and spices, in Seattle's Pike Place Market.

Have you ever been so tired during the day you need a wake up call? I have and Starbucks gives me an extra boost of energy to complete my day. Many consumers buy the product thinking it will help you get energy, find their true love, that it will help your day get better or that it’s all natural. It does this by using pathos, logos and perceived value.

I chose to complete the social brand inventory on Starbucks Corporation. Starbucks’s logo and only symbol is an image of a siren, a two-tailed mermaid. Starbucks does not have one positioning statement, but varying slogans by product or marketing campaign. Six popular slogans include “It’s not just coffee. It’s Starbucks”, “Life happens over coffee”; “Coffee is Culinary”, “Let’s Merry”, “Starbucks DoubleShot. Bring on the day”, and “Starbucks Frappuccino. Work can wait.”

It is evident that there are many things being fetishized in present day. Specialty coffee has been become increasingly popular since the 1980’s. As of 2001 27 million Americans consumed specialty coffee daily (Ponte 2002:1111). It can be said that Starbucks helped create the explosion and set the environment that it drew with

starbucks Corp., an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington, has expanded rapidly since its opening in 1971. These outrageous success was due to its well-developed strategy vision which lay out the company's strategic course in developing and strengthening its business. Starbucks is a global corporation that sells authentic coffee in 30 countries, reporting revenues of nearly $5.1 billion in 2006. The main goal of Starbucks is to embrace diversity by applying the highest standards of excellence. Starbucks strives to perfect the relationship with the working class by making the service as fast as possible because they believe that every customer has their own personal rate. One

was changed to Starbucks Coffee Company. The logo was designed to be a two tailed mermaid encircled

The world-renowned coffee company, Starbucks, has been around since 1971, and many believe the green lady in their logo is a mermaid, however, that is incorrect. The original location of the popular coffee shop is at Pike Place Market in Seattle and because of Seattle’s environment as a town next to the sea, the company wanted to have a logo that represented that statement. This is where the siren comes in, but wait, what is a siren? In Greek Mythology, a siren was a combination of the head of a woman and body of a bird, however, as time went on, a siren also became known as a mermaid with two-twin tails. For Starbucks, coffee came from the sea, and with the connection of the siren also originating from the sea, the icon was

Try taking a walk in New York without bypassing a Starbucks. Seriously, try– I dare you! Starbucks coffeehouses are so ubiquitous this task would almost certainly be impossible. The truth is, this is not just a New York thing, I was just trying to make the point relevant. Starbucks is the largest coffee distributor in the world and exist all over cities across the country as well as a global expansion.      Before getting to the company’s origin, branding and success, a closer look will be taken at the company’s most simple, unique and important graphic representation: the logo.

Starbucks first opened its doors in Seattle’s Pike Place Market with the name being coined from that of Moby Dick’s first mate (Schultz & Yang 1999). It has spread its shops across North America, all over Europe, the Middle East, Latin America as well as the Pacific Rim with an estimated 35 million customer weekly (Michelli, 2008). With tremendous growth from a small time coffee shop, the company has matured to an international icon that today it is one of the world’s leading retailer, roaster and brand specialty coffee (Story, 1971). The company offers whole bean coffees, espresso beverages, and confectionery and bakery items.

“Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” (Starbucks, 2013). That is the mission statement of Starbucks. Whenever you think about who has the most premier cup of coffee or the most mouthwatering Frappuccino, you can’t help but visualize the green twin-tailed mermaid coffee icon. With more than 21,000 locations in 66 countries and revenue upwards of US $16.44 billion (Fortune 500, 2015), something or more importantly someone is

Inspired by the book and the movie about Moby Dick, Starbucks first opened as a storefront in Pike Place Market in 1971. It wasn’t until 1984 when Howard Schultz joined the operation as a chairman, president, and chief executive officer, and introduced to Starbucks the new Italian breed of coffee bean and Italian style of coffee drinking; a style that refreshed the idea of socializing and interacting among people of all walks in times that corporate life style was winning over the family and friendly style of living. Such goal was established by officially making it company’s mission statement; “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time” (Starbucks, n.d). After 43

“We are not in the coffee business, serving people. We are in the people business, serving coffee”, Howard Schultz’s philosophy has shaped and continues shape Starbucks, the world’s number one specialty coffee retailer with over 21,000 outlets in more than 65 countries nowadays (Starbucks, 2011). Starbucks was founded in 1971 and Howard Schultz joined Starbucks in 1982. In 1987, Howard acquired Starbucks and changed the name to Starbucks Corporation.

Based on the developments of the Starbucks logo one can predict will it will be heading in the future. It is my assumption that within the next 10 years Starbucks will completely cut out the body of the siren and simply have the head of the siren within a green circle. Over the years it has been continually simplified and this seems to be the most logical next step.

The Starbucks story began in 1971 in Washington when it opened its first store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. The company is named after the first mate in Moby Dick. Their logo is inspired by the sea. The lady that is the Starbucks logo is actually not an ordinary lady, it is a twin-tailed siren from Greek mythology. Back then, they were retailers of whole bean and ground coffee. As well as tea and spices. In 1981 Howard Schultz, the chief executive officer and chairman of Starbucks today, had his first cup of Starbucks coffee and was speechless. A year later he started working there. In 1983 Schultz went to Italy and was fascinated with the coffee bars there and just the experience. His main vision was to eventually bring the Italian coffeehouse legacy back to the United States. He envisioned a place where people could go for conversation and a sense of community. A

Howard Schultz didn’t just build a company, he built an empire. Starbucks’ Coffee is a benchmark in the coffee trade, for coffee drinkers and, even non-coffee drinkers. He nursed a small company in the big city of Seattle, to a global