Jul
30
Shooting for the Starbucks
Filed Under Marketing | Author: Kelly Sizemore |
I’m sure you’ve all heard Starbucks is closing 600 of its stores. What I was surprised to find is that it probably has little to do with the economy and more to do with how they grew. In particular, this researcher’s quote from an article I read struck me…
“Passikoff said Starbucks tried to migrate its coffee brand into a lifestyle brand. ‘They came out with the movies and the books in the stores. There’s nothing wrong with that aspiration. But as part of this, they essentially took a step away from the core quality of the brand, which was the coffeehouse experience … What essentially they did overall was re-engineer the experience right out of the stores. So customers were standing in line, and there was no experience anymore. They were too much like everyone else.’”
As my company continues to focus on marketing for Affinity Brands, I think this goes to show how important it is to stay objective and keep it real. More isn’t always better.
Starbucks will bless a new generation of inbound Marketing students with yet another case study … unfortunately, not with another home run. Doing too much may have proven to degrade what made the brand affinity-worthy in the first place.
(Of course, this lapse in marketing judgment won’t stop me from my occasional non-fat hazelnut latte. Mmm.)
Here’s a link to the full article if you’re interested. http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/742107.html
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