Satrbucks Essay

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Jennifer Crosby Starbucks Case What factors accounted for the extraordinary success of Starbucks in the early 1990’s? What was so compelling about the Starbucks value proposition? What image did Starbucks develop during this period? Starbucks extraordinary success in the 90’s was multifaceted. At the start, was having created a successful brand strategy coupled with their rapid growth of new store openings in “high-traffic, high visibility settings”. As well, selling premium priced coffee in addition to whole beans. They were particularly skilled at choosing and catering to their target market of “primarily affluent, well-educated, white-collar patrons”. Their competitive differentiation came in creating an “experience” for their customers and specializing in ambience at their locations to encourage a place where the customers would want to stay and hang out. Schultz vision was to create a “third place” (other than home and work) for its patrons to want to be. Lastly, they chose to focus heavily on their customer service philosophy hoping to translate to brand loyalty. Their value proposition is directly attributable to creating a higher perceived value around the experiences they create for their buyers or what they call “live coffee” culture. To substantiate this strategy, Starbucks has focused on three fundamentals. First being high quality beans. To ensure quality beans they controlled as much of the supply chain as possible. ‘They worked directly with growers to purchase green coffee beans. They oversaw the custom-roasting process and controlled distribution to retail stores’. Second was their “customer intimacy, which translated into a large variety of coffee selection as well as customization by the drinker. Lastly, was their customer service, To create the “uplifting experience” they strive for they strongly encouraged their baristas to remember

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