Will Starbucks Return To Its "Community Roots"?
An interesting Specialty Coffee Marketing decision was reported by Starbucks Coffee today.
In a bold coffee marketing move Starbucks has banished any of its famous Starbucks branding on three trial stores and has redesigned them to resemble independent local cafes. The test of unbranded stores by Starbucks, which is running in the coffee giant's home city of Seattle, uses the address of the cafe in its branding. For example one is called 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea.
Starbucks making this bold move withing the Specialty Coffee Industry is a strategic marketing technique. By steping away from its established name and brand identity Starbucks is looking at leaving behind the corporate identity that it spent so many years and millions of dollars to promote.
In addition the products sold in the unbranded "local cafes" are also non-branded. Starbucks senior vice president Tim Pfeiffer said the new stores aimed to reflect the local community more than the chain's regular stores currently did. One of the test outlets will feature poetry readings and live music.
Starbucks Coffee Co. appears to be coming out of free fall thanks, in part, to marketing by McDonald's. Starbucks credits McDonalds cost for its sales improvements. In a third-quarter-
Will Starbucks return to its "community roots"? This is doubtful because of stiff competition from over 15,000 independent specialty coffee houses in the USA.
Contact:
David Schwartz
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