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Starbucks : Marketing Team And Transformed A Commodity Into A Cultural Phenomenon

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The story of Starbucks starts when Howard Schultz joined the marketing team and transformed a commodity into a cultural phenomenon. After traveling to Italy, Howard became fascinated with the European coffee experience and wanted to bring that experience and sense of community back to the US. He wanted Starbuck to be America’s third place between work and home, a place people could relax and enjoy. By late 2002 Starbucks had dominated the specialty coffee industry in America. The company was experiencing its eleventh year of 5% or higher store sales growth, serving 20 million customers in over 5000 stores around the world. Even more remarkable is the success the company achieved without the use of mass marketing. Value propositioning consisting of three major principles to their branding strategy accounted for Starbucks success. The first principle was to offer the highest quality premium coffee in the world. The second principle was to create an inviting, relaxing, and uplifting atmosphere. The third principle was to the very best service to its customers. Their customers were often affluent, well educated, serious coffee lovers willing to pay for premium priced coffee for the coffee lifestyle. By aligning with their target market, Starbucks was able to positively secure brand views that ultimately secured the company’s overall strategic positioning. As a result of the astonishing growth, also came some changes. Operating 5000 stores, experimenting in

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