Starbucks Marketing Strategy

The strategy was to offer low price in the market which led to setting the lower prices. Niche marketing was used in setting the prices to be offered for the different market segments. Products with market target specifications are availed. The low-cost strategy was applied to set up the budget of the firm. It would use the least possible production budget to cut the price of products. The combination of strategies assists in maintaining a key position in a market. Compete effectively with opponents.

IntroductionMicro environmental factorsThe micro environmental factors are the forces close to the company that affect its ability to serve its customers. The factors are also known as the internal environmental factors such as the company itself, marketing intermediaries, its suppliers, customers ,competitors and publics which are within or close to the company that have an impact of the organization strategy.

The Starbuck Corporation is considered as the one of the leading firms across the globe in specialty coffee consumption. Since its inception and launch in a market in Seattle, Washington, the company has developed to extent with which it offers quality premium coffees with an excellent level of customer service and at reasonable prices worldwide. The growth and profitability of this company is attributed to its development and use of an effective marketing strategy. Actually, the firm is renowned for successfully adopting a differentiation focus strategy designed to offer high quality, focused product, and premium prices, which is in essence no object to its customers. Throughout its marketing initiatives, Starbuck Corporation does not market its product or the firm aggressively but drives its sales through the image and reputation it has developed (Larson, 2009).

Suppliers would be another example of someone who would have a primary interest in a firm accomplishing its objectives. Starbucks currently uses a supplier diversity program by actively seeking diverse owned businesses to buy from (“Supplier Diversity,” 2014). All businesses in the United States or Canada, who are certified as "diverse" by a third-party company are eligible to apply for this program ("Supplier Diversity," 2014). This method gives Starbucks an excellent opportunity to have suppliers come to them rather than having to go search for suppliers themselves. They can then look at the options from the applicants and choose a supplier with the best price and quality while also giving back to minority-owned businesses. Overall, this is an excellent program that Starbucks should continue to use their K-cup suppliers.

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

A good marketing plan must possess a strong marketing mix strategy. Organization uses marketing mix strategy modeling to estimate causal relationships and measure how marketing activity affects outcomes. The Marketing-mix models analyze data from a variety of sources, such as retailer scanner data, company shipment data, pricing, media, and promotion spending data, to understand more precisely the effects of specific marketing activities. In this paper there will be a description of the four elements of marketing mix: product, price, place, and production. It will describe how the four elements of marketing mix affect the development of the marketing

Starbucks gave the customers what they wanted. They ensured that there were ample locations and endless amounts of stores (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). Furthermore, they provided drive-through services at several locations to further cater to parents with children or those with other needs. Likewise, Starbucks implemented order confirmation screens to help manage accuracy of orders. In addition, Starbucks found it essential to find ways in which to connect with its customers through its products by providing an atmosphere infused with music, books, and movies. Moreover, Starbucks wants to continue to foster entertainment that further supports the foundation of the coffee experience that the many customers have come to expect and enjoy.

In 2014, they even hosted Partner Open Forums, in which they discussed race relations in America. (Starbucks Corporation)

In 1971, the first Starbucks store was opened in Seattle, U.S. Their objective is to sell coffee drinks, food items, roasted beans, coffee accessories, and teas. Starbucks has more than 21,000 coffee shops in about 60 countries nowadays. Starbucks runs more than 10,700 of its own shops, which are located mostly in the US, while licensees and franchisees run approximately 10,600 units worldwide (including many locations in shopping malls and airports). Furthermore, Starbucks markets its coffee through grocery stores, food service customers, and licenses its brand for other food and beverage products.

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.

Successful organizations understand the importance of a strong marketing strategy to satisfy customers and sustain growth. Making the right decisions depends on several variables. The purpose of this paper is to describe the four elements of marketing mix and share how Starbucks has implemented an effective and powerful marketing strategy to become the world 's largest coffeehouse chain.

Ranked 88th top brand in the world in 2012, and 91st in 2013 (Interbrand, 2013), Starbucks has come a long way from being a tiny shop selling an assortment of coffee beans and distributing coffee samples, to becoming a top global brand. Hence why we have picked Starbucks to be our chosen brand for this group assignment.

An internationally recognized brand with over 16,800 locations worldwide and is valued at $5.23 Billion as of 2005 (source: cafemakers.com/brand_recognition.html) Prepared by Florence L [Fashion Marketing Critic]

This strategy provides the company the possibility to charge a premium price for superior quality (differentiation focus) or by offering a low price product to a small and specialised group of buyers (cost focus). Ferrari and Rolls-Royce are classic examples of niche players in the automobile industry. Both these companies have a niche of premium products available at a premium price. Moreover, they have a small percentage of the worldwide market, which is a trait characteristic of niche players. The downside of the focus strategy, however, is that the niche characteristically is small and may not be significant or large enough to justify a company’s attention. The focus on costs can be difficult in industries where economies of scale play an important role. There is the evident danger that the niche may disappear over time, as the business environment and customer preferences change over time.

o The successful way using focus strategy is to tailor a broad of product or service development strengths to a relatively narrow market segment that they know very well