MGG 502 HW #4: Compare & Contrast “Total Product Offer” for Starbucks, Tim Hortons and Dunkin Donuts
Situation
Starbucks, Tim Hortons and Dunkin Donuts are three distinct businesses providing a similar yet differentiated product mix to the coffee consuming public. Each of these businesses operates retail locations within a relatively short distance from the others, and all depend on brisk traffic and multiple daily transactions to remain profitable. We can assume that each business has achieved a certain level of success in the marketplace and that the overall market size is large enough to accommodate these three businesses.
You are being asked to compare and contrast the three businesses and ultimately decide which represents the strongest “Total Product Offer” (specific questions will appear below). The purpose of this assignment is to develop your ability to use the conceptual framework, textbook chapter goals and classroom discussions of the Marketing Management section of MGG 502 Introduction to Business II to arrive at your answers.
Question #1
Describe the 4 P’s … Product, Price, Place and Promotion strategies of Starbucks, Tim Hortons and Dunkin Donuts. Descriptions should be no more than 2 sentences for each “P” for each business so the completed answer to Question #1 will be a total of twelve descriptions of no more than 2 sentences each.
Starbucks
Product: Starbucks offers more than 30 different blends of handcrafted coffee, non-coffee beverages and Tazo tea.
Using the product/market expansion grid shown in Figure 2, apply the growth opportunities available to managers in Starbucks Turkey.
1.From the annual reports you previewed, what is the company's corporate strategy? What are their company goals and were they successful in achieving those goals? Please list the company of the annual report you previewed.
Starbucks financial statements were analyzed for the fiscal year ended September 27, 2015. Like all public companies, annual and quarterly financial statements are required to allow regulators and other interested parties to analyze the financial status and management decision making of the company. This analysis focuses on the results of Starbucks most recent published annual report containing their balance sheets, statement of earnings and cash flows. These statements will be analyzed against the results of one of its competitors, Dunkin Donuts, to investigate how the two companies compare to each other. It was noted that Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts do not have corresponding fiscal year ends. The data therefore is not directly comparable since the reports do not reflect the same time period of data but should provide additional insight. The paper will attempt to provide a brief analysis of Starbucks operations in terms of its liquidity, leverage, activity, profitability and growth ratios used by analysts in the industry.
(3a): What trade-offs has Starbucks made? What different activity choices has it made from its rivals?
Founded in 1985, Starbucks is one of the largest coffeehouse companies in the world with over 16,000 stores in 50 countries. This report evaluates major internal and external factors affecting Starbucks using various analytical techniques. Based on the Starbucks brand in UK, it identifies suitable marketing strategies for Starbucks to expand its business in the UK market within the next two years. In line with the chosen marketing strategies, recommendations for the marketing mix are discussed.
2. When Starbucks was rapidly expanding its store locations in 2006–2009 it made specific changes in order to facilitate that growth. What did Starbucks gain—and give up—as a result of each change?
1. In the beginning, how was Starbucks different from other coffee options for coffee drinkers in the United States? What activities and assets did Starbucks leverage to differentiate itself from
With most of the world basically running on coffee, you have more and more different places to buy your coffee every day. Trying to narrow down your options to find the best coffee can seem like a nightmare. The two main and most popular coffee corporations to choose from would be Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks. When choosing a specific location from the two places for your coffee needs there are things to consider such as: price, quality and convenience. I, a 4-6 cups of coffee a day drinker,have had coffee from both places, and have become what you could call, a coffee expert.
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.
It’s a known fact that Starbucks is one of the leading brand in the market.When we analyse the market we find that Mcdonald 's and Dunkin are the competitors in the same product segment. So comparing Starbucks with these competitors will throw light on its grey areas, process and competitive edge in the market.
The “Coffee Wars – The Big Three: Starbucks, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts” article focuses on the company analysis of the Starbucks brand and how its main competitors, McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts, has affected their brand and driven competition higher. Even though there are many companies trying to enter the specialty coffee market, these three companies own the majority of the market share. With Starbucks’ top quality and above average prices they hold a different market than the fast coffee/food market of Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks; yet the competitive moves Dunkin’ Donuts has made over the years in order to compete with Starbucks and surpass McDonald’s has driven competition up between all three companies. The competition has stiffened ever more in the past ten years due to the changing economy. This led to “the big three” to come up with different techniques to gain competitive advantage over the other. Although the competition between these companies is to gain most of the market share, consumers are still loyal to a certain brand; this makes it difficult to gain each other’s clientele. McDonald’s continues to appeal to customers who want value and speed, Dunkin’ Donuts focuses on the middle-class, while Starbucks a customer who desires a higher quality product along with being recognized for using the brand.
Starbucks extends their coffee experience to everyone: kids, teenagers and adults. Part of their success comes from their ability to create new products that fit the culture of the country. In Japan, for instance, Starbucks launched green tea lattes, which later became popular in other countries (Allison). Starbucks is well established in countries like Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom. In the US alone, Starbucks sells 4 million cups of coffee per day (Horovitz). Their products and services have transformed the way customers view coffee. Changing the way customers order, Starbucks makes it very chic to purchase custom drinks. Starbucks is like no other coffee shop: the dimmed lights
Starbucks can follow some strategies to differentiate their product even more that will lead to vary their menu prices. For example, Starbucks might create “saving menu” by selling some products at a lower prices to attract even more customers. Also, Starbucks might take into consideration the strategies of opening “Starbucks carts” that open in smaller express places that don’t fit for a whole store. Those “Starbucks carts” will attract even more customers because it is easier to get access to. “Starbucks carts” may provide the customers with low cost products to draw larger market base. To be a best cost provider in the market will allow Starbucks to be the most attractive company in the coffee market internationally. Thus, Starbucks will have a competitive advantage over its rivals by fulfilling the needs of a huge customer base in the market, by providing a high quality products and provide products with the best costs.
* Starbucks expanded to pursue sales of products in a variety of distribution channels and market segments. Products were marketed to restaurants, airlines, hotels, universities, hospitals, business offices, country clubs, and select retailers. In the airline industry, Starbucks coffee was served in flights United Airlines and United Airlines. Packets of Starbucks coffee along with coffee making equipment were made available in each room in Hyatt, Hilton, Sheraton, Radisson and Westin Hotels. Coffee service was also provided in several Wells Fargo banks in California. Foodservice distributors such as Sysco
Moreover, most of the people know the brand Starbucks as the leader of the coffee industry. It is enormously successful and it comes out with no surprise that this will be used as benchmarking against the study of Dunkin’ Donuts.