A go through into the marketing strategy of Starbucks

Table of Contents

Starbucks company an introduction

The Starbucks brand appeared in Seattle in 1971. At that time, Jerry Baldwin, Jave Siegel, and Gordon Bowker, English teacher, history teacher, and author joined forces to open their first coffee bean shop, respectively. Their store name, Starbucks, represents a character from the Moby Dicknovel and their logo refers to a two-tailed mermaid. In 1982, the team grew and welcomed Howard Schultz, who won through the Starbucks concept.

Next, after a trip to Italy, he offered his partners to develop the Starbucks store to turn it into a coffee lounge. He did not like the idea and Howard left the boat to find his own coffee, Il Giornale, whose main shareholder was none other than Starbucks. Eventually, Howard Schultz bought Starbucks in 1986.

Thanks to the financial support of Bill Gates’s father, in 1987 the two companies merged to form Starbucks Corporation. Despite some financial difficulties, Starbucks company continues to grow and open new cafes throughout the United States. The coffee chain, which went public in 1992, had 165 brands at the time. Starbucks began its international expansion by invading the Asian market in the late 90s.

Despite being dangerous, it is still a successful bet, as Japan represents only the second largest market for Starbucks after the United States. It was during this time that Starbucks opened its first cafe in Great Britain, before moving to continental Europe in 2001, opening a cafe in Zurich, Switzerland. To settle in Europe, Starbucks will make several joint ventures, especially with Group Wipes for Spain and France.

To date, there are more than 17,000 Starbucks stores in more than 50 countries worldwide. The company has over 137,000 “partners” and achieved a turnover of over 10 million euros in 2012. Over the years, the Starbucks logo has evolved from brown to green. In 2011, the brand, like ultra-famous brands such as Apple or McDonald’s, offered the luxury of not displaying its name on its logo.

A go through into the marketing strategy of Starbucks

Starbucks not only sells its own coffee; It sells the “Starbucks Experience“. The company has been successful in bringing its focus to customers. It can convince customers to pay more for high-quality products and new lifestyles. Starbucks has reached its goal of establishing and enhancing its powerhouse premium brand through a rapid expansion of retail operations, the introduction of new products and store concepts, as well as the development of new distribution lines.

So let’s have a further go-through inside the marketing strategy of Starbucks.

Starbucks revolutionized the coffee business. The main marketing strategy is to place Starbucks stores as a “third place” between work and home. The company can increase its market share in existing markets and open stores faster in new markets. In addition, Starbucks always strives to expand its product portfolio. The company collaborates and forms alliances with other companies to develop and distribute new products. As a result, Starbucks has grown from a local coffee bean roaster and retailer in the US to a multinational coffee and coffeehouse chain.

However, The rapid expansion of Starbucks may, unfortunately, lead to some serious problems. The company will have to contend with the commoditization of the Starbucks brand due to a number of decisions required for rapid business growth. Recovering the score, being smart in spending time, money, and resources, driving innovations, and doing what is necessary to once again set Starbucks apart from others are key to future business success.

Starbucks Brand strategy “Third place”

In his autobiography, Howard Schultz describes the Starbucks coffeehouse as “third place” after home and work. Its brand strategy aim is to transform its cafe into a unique place for customers to spend a good time in a familiar, pleasant, and comfortable place. To achieve this, the layout and decor of the cafe are designed to transform it into a warm and friendly place where spending time can be fun. Warm colors, comfortable armchairs, free Wi-Fi, … all give you a pleasant experience and make you want to come back as if you were at home.

Starbucks Community Service Spirit

You may have noticed this, but it’s not advertised by Starbucks, yet it is the number one coffee chain in the world. If the brand is very popular and successful, it is very much thanks to its community service spirit. In fact, the customer is the center of everyone’s attention. In the United States, for every takeaway coffee, you order, you will be asked for your first name, which will be written on your cup.

This personalized service makes an impact and encourages people to tell their friends about it and come back. But Starbucks goes a long way and also gives voice to its customers to improve its services, coffee, etc. In fact, a few years ago, the brand set up the My Starbucks Ideas website, where customers were invited to come up with new ideas. Recipes, decorations, and more to enhance the Starbucks experience. Other customers vote for their favorite ideas and when an idea becomes popular, Starbucks implements it.

An effective strategy, because in the first year, Internet users proposed 75,000 different ideas and implemented 25 of them.

Digital strategy and loyalty

Starbucks places great emphasis on customer loyalty and has developed a number of technologies to achieve that. Most of them are using digital tools like social networks or Starbucks mobile applications. For example, Starbucks often uses Foursquare to build customer loyalty. In fact, the brand has offers several draws to win prizes for customers who have previously “checked in” on their Starbucks coffees.

Thanks to the Starbucks mobile app, you can pay for your coffee from your smartphone without having to pick up your wallet. The application also allows you to serve coffee to a friend. In terms of social networks, Starbucks has nothing to be ashamed of: 37 million fans on Facebook (467,000 on the France page), 6 million followers on Twitter, 11 million views on YouTube, and 2 million members on Instagram and Pinterest. But there are 156,000 fans.

Final thoughts

Starbucks main goal is to be the leading brand and retailer of the finest coffee in each of its target markets nationally and internationally by selling the best quality coffee and related products and providing top-notch customer service.

Starbucks is the largest franchise retailer selling coffee bean products worldwide. Therefore, it is important for the company to have the talent, intelligence, and competent management team to plan, manage, lead and control the overall business operations strategy by setting a clear and achievable goal and focusing on current trends.

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