Starbucks is a coffee company that began in 1971 in Seattle, Washington. They own more than 24,000 retail stores in 70 countries (“Starbucks Company”). They offer an array of products from coffee to handcrafted beverages to fresh food. Starbucks believes in being a responsible company while participating in ethical sourcing and environmental stewardship. The company is an active user with sharing information on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. They are on Twitter with 11.8 million followers and also on Instagram with 12.5 million followers. Starbucks is doing exceptional with their marketing strategies when compared to the followers of other known coffee companies. For example, Dunkin’ Donuts has 57.8K followers on …show more content…
Last December Starbucks encouraged their customers to share their designs on Instagram. The “Meet the Customers” article states that they received more than 1,200 individual submissions from 13 countries. Ultimately, 13 designs from six countries were chosen to be featured on Starbucks red cups for the 2016 holiday season. The artists were not only diverse in their ethnicities, but in their occupations. These occupations ranged from a nurse aide, to a hair stylist, to a college student. This is another great example of Starbucks earning publicity, but also proving that it strongly values not only customer feedback, but it’s mission: “To inspire and nurture the human spirit: one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” (“Starbucks …show more content…
After Donald Trump was elected, many Americans, both Democrats and Republicans, were flabbergasted. Many voiced their opinions all over social media websites. Many opinions were negative, however, positivity started trending shortly after. Americans realized that no matter the outcome, we have a choice in how we treat one another every day. Starbucks, being the ethical company that it is, responded to this data and tweeted an article titled “A Message from Howard Shultz: Onward Together.” In this article the CEO states “Together is where our collective power lies.” (Shultz). He emphasizes the importance of the decision of Americans to be hopeful in the outcome and approach each day with compassion and kindness. Starbucks piggybacked on to the contemporary buzz, saw what the community was talking about, and responded positively in a way their customers
Starbucks and other companies have found a new way to add economic value, and what they are selling is emotion and a feeling of belonging. Companies have now stopped trying to sell just their products, they are now making you feel good about buying their product. Bill Silver uses the example of the blueberry muffin. If you buy the blueberry muffin, then you get to eat a tasty pastry. But if you don’t buy a muffin, you still feel good about yourself because you resisted urge of buying that blueberry that would have costed you money and make you not as
Coffee, one of the world’s most known beverages. Seen being drinking at work places, colleges, or in the convenience of your own home. There are a variety of companies that provide us the people with coffee. It can be your local market, bakeries, or even fast food places. 3 places that stand out and our known very well for supplying Americans with coffee is Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and McDonald’s. From their strategic advertising, deals, and even straight down to the design of their cups, they meet the definition of marketing. We will be examining these 3 companies using the marketing mix which consist of product, price, place, promotion and also cover value based marketing and see how these companies meet these definitions and how they satisfy their customers as well.
Founded in 1971 at Seattle’s Pike Place Market, Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spices, as it was originally called, has been “brewing-up” its famous blends in over 43 countries, including the United States. Now called Starbucks Coffee Company, business isn’t just about the coffee and tea anymore. Starbucks has its own line of bottled water, handcrafted beverages, fresh food, entertainment, merchandise and a Starbucks Card. The company has received numerous awards for their outstanding business practices. Fortune Magazine has ranked them as one of “The Best 100 Companies to Work For” in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2008 (Starbucks, 2008). The Starbucks Experience provides consumers and the general public a direct line a of business communication. From friendly baristas to press releases from CEO Howard Schultz, Starbucks keeps its “partners” informed.
This strategic capitalises on weaknesses since will decrease the cost of coffee beans/beverages but also Starbucks operating cost which they regularly ship across the world to various stores. Starbucks can capitalise on this weakness to improve their brand options. It adds value in the inbound logistics activities, operations and procurements. Starbucks should consider this option since it will decrease their operating cost and therefore will reduce the prices on their menu. The attractiveness is the exact same as mentioned in option 1.
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).
Businesses that are social conscious, benefit from social drivers that strive for social impact based on consumer expectations. Starbucks and Unilever have learned to “blend capitalism and activism in order to influence change” (Koehn, 2015). Although consumer impact plays a large part in social responsibility, employees can also benefit from the endeavors as well. According to Howard Schultz of Starbucks, ‘health benefits and parent engagement building trust among employees [leading to]… loyalty and productivity’ (Koehn, 2013). (Koehn,
Schultz, Howard, and Joanne Gordon. Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul. New York: Rodale, 2011. N. pag. Print.
This quote explains that the company cares more about growth than quality. It is important to think about growing, but according to the article, some people think like this about the corporation because of the competition between the coffee shops like Dunkin’ Donuts or other reasons. Furthermore, based on the research, the idea of having “Customer Snapshot” proves that the company cares about quality and service. According to the article, the Customer Snapshot is a measurement of service performance that Starbucks has. Basically, they lead the customers to rate them based on some of the basic services which are cleanliness, product quality, and speed of service. In addition, this quote supports the idea of having best ethical service, “The last thing we want to do is win the argument and lose the customer” (Moon). The company cares about the customers, quality, service, and growth. This shows that the company wants to improve and be better and have the best ethical services that make people want to be in their third place. And they will encourage others to try and have an amazing experience in Starbucks same as
Starbucks is the world’s largest coffee roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. We have enjoyed great dividend returns over the past 5 years, and our growth has been on the rise. We are currently saturating the US market, while the emerging markets of developing countries offer many possibilities for growth and increased revenues. In our US market we should look at offering more items on the menu that complement our long-standing tradition of pleasing our customers. Exotic Juices, and snacks served with the same service could add a nice margin to the bottom line. In addition, the ability to offer a drive through service for the consumer that loves fine coffee but does not have the time to stop and visit should be on our “trial” market plan for the next few years.
We are now a consumer based society, where we rely entirely on buying alone, not the trio of production, jobs, and purchasing. The economy now revolves around Starbucks. This has cost us our jobs because the production and the job part have moved overseas, where cheap labors are easily acquired. Drinking Starbucks’ coffee is more than just about the quality and the functionality; it’s about an expression of longing, a source of entertainment, a strategy for mood management, and a form of symbolic communication about class and social standing. This gave rise to the “Starbucks Moment.” Starbucks Moment is when the company popped up everywhere from airports, malls, parking lots, street corners, and social medias, like Facebook to television shows and movies. Since buying Starbucks meant buying social status, many Americans thought that it will make their private and public lives better. This “desire” for better life allowed the corporation to slowly encroach upon our private lives. The company took over the civic institutions, due to the pullback of community, the state, and other binding agents, which allowed brands like Starbucks the chance to sell more of their “luxurious” products, garner allegiance and profits by reaching deeper into our lives. They talked and acted like NGO or a political party and by making claims that they are serving for the greater good, they made it harder for government agencies to reclaim their legitimacy as vital decision makers in domestic and foreign policies. However, in reality, they are working for the shareholders at Wall Street. Therefore, when we consume Starbucks, we are giving away parts of our environment, our culture, and even our politics, as they take over more state functions.
Business was good, but it was not without its problems. There was the political upheaval in the Middle East, followed by further tension after then CEO Howard Schultz commented on growing anti-Semitism in the region. Their integrity came under fire when certain Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) accused them of purchasing coffee beans under questionable social and economic conditions. These situations, together with difficult economic times globally, meant that Starbucks was likely going to take a hit somewhere. Eventually, they shut down their Israeli operations altogether.
In a capitalistic society like America, the only way corporations will make money is by making customers happy. Starbucks knows that if it wants to profit, it needs to show customers it is worth their time. The text overlaying the enticing image of a hot cup of coffee literally states that a coffee from Starbucks will be perfect. “If your coffee isn’t perfect, we’ll make it over,” the ad promises. It goes on to say, “If it still isn’t perfect, make sure you’re in a Starbucks.” Aside from the explicit claim that a Starbucks coffee will be perfect, the ad makes this same claim implicitly as well. In these two sentences, the words “coffee,” “perfect,” and “Starbucks” are bolded and in a bigger font. This not only draws the viewer’s attention to these words, but it also encourages the viewer to subconsciously associate these three words with each other. Thus, the viewer begins to think that Starbucks coffee is perfect. The ad also guarantees customer satisfaction. Starbucks realizes that even a perfect product won’t sell if the customer is unhappy, so Starbucks aims to ensure potential customers that their voices will be heard. The reassurance that Starbucks will remake an imperfect drink shows that the company is willing to work for the customer’s happiness. This also feeds the potential customer’s sense of self-importance, which is
In America, the idea of homosexuality is more accepted, than around the world, but this is still a very controversial area of discussion with many lobbying against LGBT rights (Oldham, Tasman & Riba, 1993, p. 15). In 2012, Starbucks along with many other corporates supported the Washington state bill to legalize same-sex marriages (Smith, 2013). Howard Schultz is quoted saying, “If you feel respectfully that you can get a higher return [than] the 38% you got last year, it's a free country” (Smith, 2013). He went on further to say that Starbucks “embraces all kinds of diversity”, and with more than 200 000 employees the respect of individuality is paramount (Smith, 2013). To maximize competitive advantage, the ability to adapt to the pressures from local responsiveness is vital for a multinational such as Starbucks (Monash South Africa, 2014). These pressures include many aspects with focus on customer tastes and preferences (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,
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.