Analysis of Starbucks Company (Essay Example)

For an international brand with an operating income exceeding $4.1 billion, Starbucks had a humble start. Three students opened the first Starbucks in Seattle in 1971. Thanks to its phenomenally successful marketing strategy, one of the most iconic brands globally are Starbucks. It did not just happen to become a famous brand overnight. Over the years, Starbucks has invested a lot of effort and money in marketing and customer satisfaction to ensure that the Starbucks experience is constant anywhere in the world. You find yourself looking for a cup of coffee. The University and Forest Starbucks employ many subtle marketing tactics, but impact how the community views and interacts with this store. 

There are many wrong ways to make coffee, but there are a lot of right ways too. Starbucks pushes for the fancy, elegant way of coffee making as if that is the only way you will enjoy your coffee. French press, stovetop espresso, prior overs as some of the dusty decorations on the long wooden shelf with books with pages filled with all the coffee Knowle one could ever learn. As in the elegant art of coffee, the decorations at this store create delicious drinks for anyone. All of this is a few steps above the average Keurig or coffee pot most of us use daily. So, in comparison, our brewing methods look weak. With all these other brewing options that the average customer cannot identify, Starbucks must have better coffee.

With about a dozen various kinds of coffee beans for sale all year plus seasonal options, prove overs sets for sale, French presses. Mugs and travelers Starbucks can provide you with every step of your coffee experience, even at home. With all these options, all the ideal versions of coffee Brand merchandise are essential for any brand's marketing strategy. They also play a crucial role in customer retention and drive customer satisfaction. Starbuck's signature logo of a Sirin is printed on the brand's merchandise. Attractive-looking merchandise is always pleasant and adds value to a brand's products and customer service. A perfect cup of coffee cannot be ideal if the cup is imperfect. This is a strategy most customer-focused brands employ. Starbucks has also used unconventional techniques for marketing its brand. Traditionally, Starbucks has not relied on conventional marketing and advertising methods. It did not advertise its brand in traditional places like billboards, posters, or advertisements in the usual places like Newspapers or television. However, it was still able to generate a highly elevated level of publicity and popularity. Custom promotional products printed or designed with your company's logo will help people remember your business asides from being recognized by potential or future customers. You can advertise your company and introduce it to many potential customers at a meager cost by using promotional merchandise marketing.

There have been millions of people employed by Starbucks in the 50 years they have been open and hundreds of thousands of stores worldwide. Yet, this store stands alone with the culture and something. Placed right under lavish apartments, this store is not short of customers or spirit. With lots of ASU pride, as most baristas are students themselves, it feels embedded into the campus. Targeted for the students, large mirrors by the bathrooms are perfect for many customers' Instagram photoshoots. Unlike the typical corporate Starbucks, there are many large tables for people to work together with ease. As many use this as a library, there are more seating options available than most stores. This is all targeted towards the demographics of this area, being on campus, so that students come to study and make it a habit. Changing things from a typical store to what is noted in the University and Forest Starbucks is made for college students, so students see it as more than just a coffee shop.

Starbucks owes its success to its famous coffee and its business tactics – a sophisticated marketing strategy that has successfully turned a commodity into a destination. Over the following decades, the company used multiple forms of media to build customer loyalty and portray the image of a coffee shop that fills the gap between home and work. Starbucks wants its repeat customers, so they want their customers to feel good in the store. It is clear they want repeat customers as their Mission statement is "To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time." The barista is always welcoming customers. The natural lighting from the large windows makes customers feel good to be in the store. Baristas are always willing to remake your drink if it is not correct the first time. These coffee shops are not your average fast-food stop. Often Starbucks is not recognized as fast food, but this chain is just that. Food and drinks are prepped ahead of time then made or heated to order. But by asking for names and preparing the food and beverages right in front of the customers, Starbucks has disguised itself as something righteous. With the bars, ovens, and brewing stations in the front of the store, all customers can see how their items are prepared.  All the baristas are working interacting with the customers, increasing customer connections. In this way, Starbucks is laid out its customers expect more, so when their drink price goes up, customers are more okay with it. When walking into a Mcdonald's, customers are not expecting to be greeted or even welcomed in any way. The employees are expected to get the food out to customers as soon as possible, which is the only goal. But Starbucks has capitalized on the baristas engaging with customers so that customers will come back repeatedly. 

Starbucks emphasizes their non-coffee-related/political actions heavily, showing how progressive they are. However, there is more that happens beyond what is advertised. They show how eco-friendly and help people in need since people feel good about what they spend their money on. Most are in younger generations that care a lot about social issues, including the environment, decreasing food insecurity, and helping marginalized communities. Customers want to feel good about what they are spending their money on. So if Starbucks supports those same issues, then customers will continue to support Starbucks. Starbucks has been a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community for years. They have been giving out pride shirts to all partners during pride month for years now and donating money to different non-profits. This is also the case with supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and giving out shirts to partners to wear and paying partners time-and-a-half on Juneteenth now for years. All these movements are a part of Starbucks Corrects values, but advertising what the company believes in the targets customers will support Starbucks more. 

Most people do not look beyond that to see that Starbucks is not as progressive as you might think at the end of the day. Starbucks is a private company just like amazon, and corporate will do whatever they can to make more money. Corporate will cut costs where they can and increase sales as much as possible. But most people do not look beyond that to see that Starbucks is not as progressive as you might think because as customers do not realize it, it will still make their money at the end of the day. Often Starbucks will change a recipe for a drink or drink component to cut costs. Wipe creams, salted caramel cold brew, and pumice cream cold brew are examples of changing a recipe to save money on the product. Due to covid all, Starbucks took away the condiment bar for gussets as a safety measure. Since then corporate have realized how much money they can save by doing this. Not dumping out cream every two hours, and people unselfishly taking sugars. Even though we are past the point with covid to worry if multiple people are touching the same sugar packet, fewer people are taking different condiments available, which saves money on the product. So now corporate has decided to take away the condiment bar indefinite. Leading to more work for the baristas having to attend to each customer's request for sweeteners. And these are all things that are hidden from the customers. Employees are encouraged not to discuss recipe changes with customers unless the customer has a concern. This lack of advertisements allows Starbucks to increase its profits without decreasing customer satisfaction if no questions are asked. 

Product quality is considered a central pillar in their marketing efforts. Excellent quality has immense advantages. First, it helps with brand image and reputation. Great taste equals higher recognition and popularity. As a brand, Starbucks has built outstanding reputation over time for its products' quality, flavor, and unequaled customer service. Much marketing takes place at those stores and through brand merchandise. Excellent customer service has also added to the brand's positive reputation. In recent years, investment in marketing and advertising has resulted in better sales and increased brand recognition.