The Starbucks Story by John Simmons

Author:John Simmons
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789814408769
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish

The problems facing Starbucks as it grew were typical of many businesses.

The questions it asked itself can usefully be asked by other businesses too.

“The issues became far more complex. Can a company double and even triple its size but stay true to its values? How far can you extend a brand before you dilute it? How do you innovate without compromising your legacy? How do you create widespread trial and awareness without losing control? How do you stay entrepreneurial even as you develop professional management? How do you keep pushing through on long-term initiatives when short-term problems demand immediate attention? How do you continue to provide customers with a sense of discovery when you’re growing at the speed of light? How do you maintain your company’s soul when you also need systems and processes?”

These were the questions Starbucks was having to ask itself, and sometimes it struggled with the answers. Howard’s concerns could serve as a checklist for any young, dynamic company to use. Any manager of a growing brand needs to find the answers. A marketing director would be best placed to answer them, but Starbucks had no marketing director. Indeed it had done very little marketing in the conventional sense of the word, although it had carried out an enormous amount of brand building. Conventional marketing does not drive Starbucks in the way that it drives, say, Coca-Cola. Starbucks has always operated on minuscule advertising budgets. In advertising terms, if Coca-Cola’s budget makes it American through and through, Starbucks’ is the spending equivalent of a third-world country. But Starbucks has never needed to advertise heavily. The brand has spread through word of mouth, PR and community activities. Why advertise to lure people to a new store when people are already queueing for a coffee? In 10 years Starbucks spent $10 million on advertising; Coca-Cola spends that in less than a day.

But by 1995, there were some worrying signs. The company had grown at an astronomical rate, but independent research and observations suggested that Starbucks was starting to be seen as corporate and predictable, inaccessible and irrelevant. This was a shock to Howard Schultz, who has a highly personal identification with the Starbucks brand. Because he believes so passionately that Starbucks is based on individuality and diversity, and on its ability to create communities, any criticism of Starbucks becomes a personal slight. The research findings reinforced the need to have a senior marketing executive on board.

Scott Bedbury was identified as the person for the job. Having made his name at Nike, he came to Starbucks after a lot of persuasion from Howard Schultz. He had helped Nike grow through a clear concentration on what the brand was really about, combined with innovative marketing campaigns and hefty advertising programs. From his time there (1987–94) came the internal brand mantra “Authentic athletic performance” to act as a touchstone for judging activities as true or false to the brand. The external expression of this single-mindedness was the line “Just do it’” which has since become inseparable from Nike.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.