Starbucks Marketing Strategy

People go there not only for coffee but also other reasons. Coffee shop is one of the best place to interact with others because this social setting provides

As the world’s number one specialty coffee retailer, Starbucks sells coffee drinks, food items, coffee beans, and coffee-related accessories and equipment. In addition, Starbucks sells whole-bean coffees through a specialty sales group and grocery stores. Starbucks has grown beyond coffee into related businesses such as coffee-flavoured ice cream and ready-to-drink coffee beverages. The purpose of this paper is to analyze Starbucks business strategy, customer value proposition, company’s operations and the risks to financial results and reporting in the short term.

The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the Industry’s features and the company’s strategy. The main analysis in this project is external analysis and internal analysis. External analysis is contain of strategy group, five forces, partial SWOT, PESTEL, Industry life cycle and Internal analysis is contain of market segmentation, CSFS, partial SWOT, generic strategy, Resources and Core competency, the Boston matrix, the Ansoff matrix and financial analysis. At last the recommendation part will indicate the company’s future prospects.

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

cup of coffee would head to their local coffee houses or their corner cafes in

Howard Schultz had the perfect plan to create a successful coffee company. He got people to pay more for a premium coffee then to just go to a local coffee shop and pay a lot less for a cheaper coffee. He did this by creating an experience around purchasing your coffee. Starbucks focused on creating relationships with its customers while providing one of the best premium coffees out there. Also being able to customize your own drink was a big success in getting people to purchase the product. A high quality coffee was one key component to Starbucks value proposition. Another was service and

Starbucks is known for their fine roasted coffee, but they also serve other hot and cold beverages, hot breakfast, bakery items and sandwiches. At night they serve wine, beer and food. They have over 30 blends of Arabica coffee and are the leading roaster, retailer and marketer of specialty coffee in the world (Starbucks Corporation Profile). Starbucks coffee houses are operating in 50 countries. Starbucks coffee comes from Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Starbucks has been considered the top provider of the finest coffee bean and coffee drinks in the world. Anyone who loves a good cup of coffee knows that Starbucks is the top choice. No matter where you are in the world, you will see an inviting Starbucks store with this amazing aroma of freshly roasted and brewed coffee, nicely lighted space, great seat lay-out, free wi-fi, and just a comfortable space to hang out. The baristas behind the green apron are wondering people delivering nothing but the best “Starbucks experience”. Over 4 decades of successful business, Starbucks has grown into a well-known brand in every household, not only in the North America, but even in Europe, Mediterranean, Middle East, and Asia, It has become so popular that its name does not even necessary to be printed in most of its products, and the Starbucks logo is what they all need. In this paper, I aim to discuss the company’s strategy behind its great success. Also, I will provide feedback as to how the company is operating in the Philippines [which is my home country].

Founded in 1971 at Pike’s Place Market in Seattle, Washington, Starbucks coffee went from a high-quality, do-it-yourself whole bean retailer to an international 6.4 billion dollar empire. As of 2005, there were 10,500 stores worldwide where customers could enjoy a cup of the internationally recognized coffee at a convenient location. Starbucks achieved this through a series of strategic movements all while offering a great in-store experience and quality coffee.

Starbucks is diversifying into other related industries including bottled water, and even the music retailing industry. When a customer enters a Starbucks, they get a wide choice of many different types of products. They provide bagels, souvenirs, pastries, yogurt, wraps, fruit, Frappuccino, Espressos, Tazo teas, and many other items. Starbucks uses contemporary design of all promotional, web-related, and other material to keep it appealing to young generations. This contemporary look and feel is unified throughout all their material, so even the older target segments will feel younger when they drink your coffee.

Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world. It was founded by three very unusual entrepreneurs, an English teacher Jerry Baldwin, History teacher Zev Siegel and a Writer Gordon Bawker. They came with this brilliant idea of getting into the coffee business inspired by an entrepreneur who sold high quality coffee beans and equipments, named Alfred Peet. The first Starbucks store was opened in Pike Market Place in Seattle on March 30, 1971. It is a for profit company.

The original Starbucks opened in Seattle, Washington, in 1971 by three partners: English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegel, and writer Gordon Bowker. The three were inspired by Alfred Peet, whom they knew personally, to open their first store in Pike Place Market to sell high-quality coffee beans and equipment. The original Starbucks location was at 2000 Western Avenue from 1971-1976. That store then moved to 1912 Pike Place; it is still open. During their first year of operation, they purchased green coffee beans from Peet 's, and then began buying directly from growers.

This particular case starts off by telling the background of Starbucks as it is today. 30 years ago, Starbucks was a single store in Seattle 's Pike Place Market selling premium roasted coffee. They decided to change their traditional customer experience in the 1980s. When the company 's director of marketing, Howard Schultz, came back from Italy, he felt enchanted with the coffee house experience of Italy. Mr. Schultz wanted to duplicate this experience in his own coffee stores.  The new strategy consisted of selling their already proven products in a tastefully designed coffee house setting. With this strategy, Starbucks became one of the best-known brands in the country in a decade. There stores became places for relaxation, reading the newspaper, holding business meetings, or even browsing the web.

Starbucks tried to position themselves as a premium product in the coffee industry by creating a high standard, introducing innovative products and providing excellent service. Schultz knew how perishable coffee was and they were so fanatical about quality control, and hence they carefully monitored each and every step of coffee production. They bought dark-roast, whole bean coffee from places like Sumatra, Kenya, Ethiopia and Costa Rica; roasted them in their own plants; and sold only through company-owned stores (refer casestudy). They used total quality management (TQM) in which all company’s people are constantly involved in improving the quality of products (Kanji, 1996). Usage of nonfat milk and introduction of Frappuccino made a significant presence in the balance sheet of Starbucks. Moreover, they provided seasonal

The consumer market is segmented according to age as well as preferences. People working in offices located close to the coffee bar and on sophisticated teenagers. Younger consumers are often willing to spend more on fancy coffee blends and signature drinks; the health-conscious would be willing to pay extra for “healthier” substitutes such as organic products; My market research shows that these are the customer groups that are most likely to buy coffee products. Since coffee consumption is universal across different income categories and mostly depends on the level of higher education.