Marketing Problems Of Starbucks

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The company started its activity in 1971 as a small coffee shop located in Seattle specialized in selling whole Arabica coffee beans. After being taken over by Howard Schultz in 1982, following a rapid and impressive growth, by mid-2002 the company was the dominant specialty coffee brand in North America, running about 4,500 stores’
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 brands 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 …show more content…

There is a great differentiation between Starbucks and the independent coffee houses, inconsistent with the desired one wrong positioning. We can trace the causes of these problems, by looking at the strategy of Starbucks. Since a strategic marketing group is lacking anyway. This was a major flaw in the strategy, and it is believed to be the most important cause for the wrong positioning and brand image.
Other cause of the problems is the fact that no market researchers have taken place in order to find out whether Starbucks brand is positioned in the right place in consumers ' minds. Defective measurement of product and service quality, wrongly mistaken with the customer satisfaction, is a third cause. What has been observed and measured was the compliance of partners ' actions with procedures, cleanliness and speed of service. However, these do not represent customer satisfaction, but they hardly measure the level of few services …show more content…

Customer base has changed, probably due to overall market change. Also, since the company image has taken an unwanted turn, there is a possible change in the customer base that it appeals to. Starbucks has become a corporate, accessible and consistent place to drink a good coffee on the way to work. Therefore, today it appeals to customers with completely different lifestyles, needs and wants. It may satisfy this new customer base up to a point, but they are not the initially targeted sector. Since nothing has been done to stimulate intellectually the sector targeted in their embryonic stage, they most probably left for independent coffee shops. Starbucks is now appealing to younger people, looking for a quick cup of good coffee, spending less time and money in the

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