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Competitive strategy of Starbucks
Competitive strategy of Starbucks
Business strategy of starbucks
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Branding Assignment The brand community holds many purposes for a company but the ultimate goal is to bring new customers in and the regular customers to remain loyal. One company that has done this is Starbucks. Starbucks has been advertising their brand and learning new ways to get the customers attention. They have been getting and keeping their customers attention through many different flavors and variety. They have built a new way of getting the customer involved as well. We will see how Starbucks has become the success it is today, how they keep customers loyal, and what they have created for the brand community. Starbucks has been invented a new way of getting people to buy their product. This was a question; “What does the customer …show more content…
The one thing that remained constant was their connection to the people. I don't remember when i first saw Starbucks but I can remember they began to pop up inside of different stores. Where I am from, Starbucks has been located in a VG’S and Target which have become very popular among several different demographics including moms and teenagers. The reason I am loyal to the brand is because of the quality of the drinks as well as my favorite part, the rewards. “I have been a member for awhile but my favorite time for Starbucks is my birthday. During any member's birthday, you can get a free drink. “If you have provided Starbucks with your email address, you will receive a reminder email that your Birthday Reward is available. If you use the Starbucks Mobile app, you will also be reminded that way. You can check your account online or look in the app to see your Birthday Reward.”(Customer Service, 2016) All you do is sign up, include your birthday, and show the barista your phone with the starbucks rewards app. I think this is one of the reasons I enjoy Starbucks because it is easy to get and claim …show more content…
I think the reason Starbucks is what it is today is because they listen to the customer. If they did not, they would probably lose business and customers like me. Another way would be if their coffee quality changed making them lose their customers to competition. Their coffee flavors and seasonal beverages make them very popular around the holidays and losing that variety or quality of the coffee would get rid of almost every customer completely. As well as their always new flavors and themes. People get bored with the old stuff and are more likely to try something new. I always love trying out new beverages from Starbucks and would be bored if I stuck to just one flavor each time. This is just a few ways of how Starbucks could lose customer including
Starbucks Corporation is one of the world's largest coffee roaster, marketer, and retailer of coffee. In 1971, three entrepreneurs, Jordan Bowker, Zev Siegel, and Jerry Baldwin opened first Starbucks store in Seattle, WA. In 1982, Howard Schultz joined Starbucks as a marketing director. He came up with the idea to make Starbucks a coffee house chain but Starbucks founders rejected the idea and he left the company in 1985. Later, Schultz started his own coffee bar named “Il Giornale”. In a couple of years, he was able to buy Starbucks Corp. from its original owners. He renamed his coffee bars "Il Giornale" as Starbucks. In 1987, Starbucks opened its first store outside the Seattle in Vancouver and Chicago. In 1996, Starbucks opened its first international store in Tokyo, Japan. [1,2]
In 2002, unexpected findings of a market research showed problems regarding customer satisfaction and brand meaning for Starbucks customers. The situation was unacceptable for a company whose overall objective is to build the most recognized and respected brand in the world. Starbucks was supposed to represent a new and different place where any man would relax and enjoy quality time, alone or with others. But the market research showed that in the mind of the consumers, Starbucks brand is viewed as corporative, trying to expand endlessly and looking to make lots of money. This huge gap between customers' perception and Starbucks' values and goals called for immediate action.
The structure of Starbucks business communication is exceptional. Rather you are in their store buying a Caramel Frappuccino®, visiting their website or watching one of their advertisements on television; as the consumer, the message is loud and clear. Pick up any newspaper and you are likely to find an article about the coffee giant. Starbucks pledges a commitment to their over 172,000 partners (employees) and the community. “We realize our people are the cornerstone of our success, and we know that their ideas, commitment and connection to our customers are truly the essential elements in the Starbucks Experience” (Starbucks, 2008).
The company’s founder and CEO, Howard Schultz, has been successful in creating Starbucks into something that we didn’t really know we needed until we had it. He has meticulously crafted a brand for the company that adds a psychological value to its offerings. Thereby, when you buy a cup of coffee at Starbucks, you buy an experience. The somewhat quiet, not-so-rushed atmosphere along with dimmed ambience and friendly staff found at Starbucks’ stores add a feel-good factor to your purchase. As a result, people are willing to pay a premium for coffee at Starbucks even if McDonald’s were running a promotion offering free coffee. The premium prices translate to superior margins for its investors.
Starbucks not only shapes a defined importance on its product, the coffee, but also the relationships on its partners, its customers and its shareholders to create diversity, “to create a place where each of us can be ourselves” (Starbucks Coffee), to treat all related partners with dignity and respect at the greatest corporate level. In this sense, Starbucks involves its customers, its neighbors and is shareholders to participate in the community to “be a force for positive action—bringing together [its] partners, customers, and the community to contribute every day (Starbucks Coffee).
Starbucks is currently the industry leader in specialty coffee. They purchased more high quality coffee beans than anyone else in the world and keep in good standings with the producers to ensure they get the best beans. Getting the best beans is only the first part, Starbucks also has a “closed loop system” that protects the beans from oxygen immediately after roasting to the time of packaging. They did this through their invention of a one-way valve which let the natural gasses escape but keeping oxygen out. This gave them the unique ability to ensure freshness and extended the shelf life to 26 weeks. Starbucks isn’t only about the coffee, it’s also about a place where people can escape to enjoy music, reflect, read, or just chat. It is a total coffee experience. The retail outlet has been responsible for much of Starbucks growth and has contributed substantially to their brand equity.
There is speculation that the company was pouring too much capital into its complex system of joint ventures and licensing agreements, and could not get a hold of its operational costs. They decided to source some of their merchandise and disposables to less expensive suppliers as an immediate cost-cutting measure. They also decided to cut back on the number of new stores and shut down unprofitable ones. Starbucks has had to learn the hard way that external forces go far beyond a society's taste in coffee, and that too much growth can have negative effects.
One of the main problems that Starbucks is facing at the present time is the ability to maintain national competitive advantage (Monash South Africa, 2014). Due to their local demand conditions, Starbucks tries to satisfy all customers by trying “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time” (Starbucks Corporation, 2014). Local demand conditons consist of a company trying satisfy needs of their closest customers and expanding their competitive advantage by upgrading their strategic management policies (Monash South Africa, 2014).
Starbucks is a worldwide company, known for is delicious brews of coffee and seasonal varieties of tasty drinks for any occasion. Starbucks opened with two main goals, sharing great coffee with friends and to help make the world a little better. It originated in the historic Pike Place Market of Seattle, Washington in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker. The creation of Starbucks’ name came from the seafaring tradition of early coffee traders and the romance evoked from Moby Dick. At the time, this individual shop specialized in the towering quality of coffee over competitors and other brewing services enabling its growth to becoming the largest coffee chain in Washington with numerous locations. In the early 1980s, the current CEO Schultz saw an opportunity for growth in the niche market. After a trip to Italy he brought back the idea of a café style environment of leisure and social meetings to the United States we now see in Starbucks locations today. Schultz ultimately left Starbucks to open his own coffee shop, Il Giornale which turned out to be a tremendous success. Fast forward a year later, Schultz got wind that Starbucks was going to sell all their components of Starbucks including their stores and factories, he immediately acquired the funds to buy Starbucks and linked both operations. Within five years he was able to open more than 125 stores starting in New England, Boston, Chicago, and gradually entered California. He wanted Starbucks to be a franchise system based on the mission of telling the truth and emphasize the quality,
Starbucks Company was established in 1971 with their first store in Western Avenue from that same year to 1976. They started as retailers of ground coffee tea and spices with a single in Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market. Starbucks is named after the first mate in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and their logo is inspired by the sea-featuring a twin-tailed siren from Greek mythology. Starbucks had always wanted to inspire the human spirit. They believe in serving the best coffee by growing the coffee under quality standards. Starbucks believes rendering good services to customers is very significant to the success of the company. From just a narrow storefront, Starbucks now has more than 20,000 stores in over 60 countries and they offer some of the world’s finest fresh-roasted whole bean coffees. Their coffee houses have become a beacon for coffee lovers everywhere. Starbucks believe that they can elevate their customers, partners, suppliers and neighbours to create positive change. They call their corporate offices “a support centre” for some reasons. They try to make everything they do there to support their retail store partners and make an impact on the communities they serve. They have a research and development team of over 200 people which are responsible for the science behind their great products. They are the innovators of delicious beverages and brewing equipments. They drive the innovations, conduct the research and test products. They have a public affairs, communications and community team of over 50 people who promotes and protects the company’s reputation all around the world. They also have a partner resources team of over 500 people that help their partners all around the world become their very best...
Involving technology with their market structure. Starbucks provide their dine-in customers with unlimited Wi-Fi connectivity. Customers feel comfortable in their environment and perhaps stick around a bit more to enjoy other comfort items and merchandize offered by the store. Starbucks Company have entered into business with technology gurus like Yahoo, Google and Apple. These three technological companies serve as a media outlet for the Starbucks brand. Apple has incorporated an application in their software where consumers may purchase coffee orders from their phones and pick up the product at the closest retail Starbucks store.
One could argue that this could be imitated by competitors but it also is very costly. Another strategy is their strategic alliances and acquisitions such as Teavana (Tea), Bay Breads, Evolution Fresh, and many more. Their acquisition strategy has known to be very horizontal. This gives Starbucks the ability to effectively leverage their cornerstone product differentiation strategies by offering a premium product mix of the highest quality beverages and snacks. Starbucks’ goal is to provide each and every customer with a unique “Starbucks Experience” excellent customer service, and well maintained stores which in turn translates to a high degree of customer loyalty. Its HRM value-based approach is for building strong internal and external relationships with suppliers which helps its deployment to international markets, horizontal integration, and organic expansion across the world. Starbucks is known for its high knowledge employees. Human capital is the main asset for most companies and they are provided with great benefits, stock options, retirement accounts, and competitive pay. Good human capital translates into great customer service. I talked to my friends about working at Starbucks and they both said it
In addition to being best-known supplier of the finest coffee and promising only the highest quality products, Starbucks emphasizes firm values, provides guidelines to enhance employee self-esteem. This is to ensure continued customer satisfaction. Moreover, diversity has become a priority to providing an inviting environment to all consumers. Starbucks continues to abide by a strict, slow growth policy in which they set out to dominate a market before moving on to expand, thus history has shown this strategy to be successful for Starbucks, making them one the fastest growing companies nationwide.
With clear core values towards providing quality coffee, the best service, and atmosphere, Starbucks has enjoyed great success since it was founded 30 years ago. The company has being doing very well for last 11 years with 5% or more store sales increase, even with the rest economy still reeling from the post-9/11 recession. However recent research, conducted to Starbucks, have showed some concerns regarding company’s problem meeting customers’ expectations.
By remaining true to core competency and a laser like focus effort towards quality; Starbucks has managed to analyze, adapt and create brand loyalty to their particular market and remained the top competitor throughout the coffee industry. Americans in general enjoy a good, hot cup of coffee to start their day. In any given business, seeing a torrid cup of coffee in a cup from Starbucks is not uncommon. Starbucks is one of the most popular coffee franchises in the world with locations in 62 countries. Starbucks has been around since the year 1971where they started off as a coffee bean roaster and retailer. This research paper will briefly explores, examine, and assess Starbucks quality marketing and management strategy. Additionally, this research