Starbucks : Just Who Is The Starbucks ' Customer

Starbucks Coffee originated in 1971 as a coffee and tea café opening in a small neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (Starbucks Corporation, 2010). Starbucks continued its service for Seattle residents for a decade when the new director of retail operations and marketing, Howard Shultz, decided to make some beneficial changes to the company. After two years of employment Howard Shultz decided to expand Starbucks outside of the Seattle area. In 1987 Starbucks was entering in the coffee market and the few numbers of Starbucks were now becoming a corporation (Starbucks Corporation, 2010). Fast forwarding to current times, Starbucks is

The first Starbucks opened in 1971, in Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market. The name, inspired by Moby Dick. Howard Schultz (Starbucks chairman, president and chief executive officer) had first walked into a Starbucks store. “He had a vision to bring the Italian coffeehouse tradition back to the United States. A place for conversation and a sense of community.” A third place between work and home. From the beginning, Starbucks set out to be a different kind of company. One that not only celebrated coffee and the rich tradition, but that also brought a feeling of connection. ("Company Information | Starbucks Coffee

Target market is the market segment to which a particular good or service is marketed. It is generally studied and mapped by an organization through lists and reports containing demographic information that may have an effect on the marketing of key products or services.

Target groups are divided into different groups base on the location and what is more abundant (“males or females”) that will give the highest profit to the company. Market segmentation is dividing the market in different groups for everyone but in different segment based on every individual’s needs. An example of a business that uses all of these techniques is Walmart that provide different products and satisfies the needs of individuals by dividing the store by segments base on peoples needs and also having their online

Starbucks was originally a small waterfront coffee shop located in Seattle that opened in 1971 (starbucks.com- Our Heritage). It is extremely convenient and now has over 24,000 stores in the 70 countries it is located in, which is one of the reasons that it is so well known today (starbucks.com- Starbucks Coffee International). There is a large variety of coffees you could get, however, they do not focus solely on coffee. They also sell teas, smoothies, pastries, and more. Their mission is to “inspire and nurture the human spirit- one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time,” (starbucks.com- Our Heritage). It is a place that people can work on computers, study, or hang out at, so it is constantly in business.

Starbucks has made a success offering the consumers something different than nice store bought brands of coffee. Howard Schultz acquired Starbucks in 1987 he wanted to copy the idea of espresso bars that he saw on his visit to Milan. His idea was to provide the consumer a place where they could relax and socialize with coworkers or friends that he called the third place. (Ferrell & Hartline, 2013).

In order to market the product into the market successfully, marketers need to have some marketing strategy to enter the desired market and make profit. Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market into subsets of consumers with common needs or characteristics (Schiffman et al., 2011). Understanding the market size and segmentation is valuable, but the keys to effective targeting is to know just how valuable specific consumer groups are, and being able to quantify the impact of consumer trends ( Berry, 1999).

Market segmentation is a marketing strategy that involves dividing a broad target market into subsets of consumers who have common needs and applications

Starbucks Corporation is one of the world’s largest coffee roaster, marketer, and retailer of coffee. Some people call Starbucks as one the most success stories in the American history. In 1971, three entrepreneurs, Jordan Bowker, Zev Siegel, and Jerry Baldwin came together with $8000 and opened first Starbucks store in Seattle, WA. They were inspired by the style of roasting beans of Alfred Peet, founder of the Peet’s Coffee & Tea. They started the company with a dream of selling high-quality coffee beans and coffee machines. During their first year of operation, Starbucks used to buy the green coffee beans from Peet’s Coffee but later they started buying the coffee from coffee planters.

The first Starbucks opened in 1971 with a simple goal to sell good hot beverages, its original name was “Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spices”. Back then, the company was a single store in Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market. From just a narrow storefront, Starbucks offered some of the world’s fines fresh-roasted whole bean coffees. The name, inspired by Moby Dick, evoked the romance of high seas and the seafaring tradition of the early coffee traders.

In 1971, Starbucks started as a small coffee shop which targeted a specialized market of coffee purists. Howard Schultz, who later owned the company and initiated the high growth period, joined Starbucks’ marketing team in 1982. Main concept of Schultz marketing strategy was too make Starbucks “America’s third place” considering home and work the two other places where Americans spend most of their time. In 1992, Schultz acquired Starbucks and made an initial public offering. Despite Wall Street’s doubts about the IPO, $25 million was raised by Starbucks.

Millions of people all around the world wake up and drink a cup of coffee every morning before they go to work. One of the most popular places for coffee drinkers to attend is Starbucks. The company started in Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market, which was opened in

Question 1:When Howard Schultz launched Starbucks, who was the target market and how was Starbucks positioned to appeal to this target market?

Market segmentation is an approach used by a company to select their target market and provide data for a marketing plan. “Market segmentation consist of a two-step process; naming broad product markets and segmenting these broad products-markets in order to select target markets and develop suitable marketing mixes” (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2014, p.97). There are 4 categories pertaining to market segmentation; behavioral, geographic, demographic, and behavioral.

Founded in 1971, Starbucks Coffee Company’s first location was in Seattle’s Pike Place Market and after 35 years, Starbucks has grown to over 11,500 outlets worldwide serving approximately 40 million customers every week