STARBUCKS CORPORATION

“ONE CUP AT A TIME”

Elizabeth Billingsley

BUSN 319 Marketing

DeVry University

March 23, 2010

Company History

March 30, 1971 – original Starbucks is opened in Seattle, Washington

April 1986 - Schultz starts the Il Giornale coffee bar chain

1987 – Baldwin, Siegal, and Bowker sell Starbucks to Schultz

Marketing Mix

Subsidies

Aside from Starbucks Corp…

Tazo Tea Company Seattle’s Best Coffee Torrefazione Italia Hear Music Ethos Water

Products

What does Starbucks really sell?

-A lifestyle-

Officially…drip-brewed coffee, espresso-based hot drinks, other hot/cold drinks, coffee beans, quick snacks and meals, ice cream, and accessories

And through Hear Music… books, music, and film

Channels of Distribution

RETAIL LOCATIONS KIOSKS WITHIN DIFFERENT STORES

ONLINE MEDIA

Pricing Structure

Luxury product

Buying out surrounding competitors

NON-licensing

Target Markets

At first…

…young college students, social classes, and neighborhoods that would be most receptive to the idea of buying… A LIFESTYLE!

Target Markets (cont.)

Now…

…Starbucks wants to include EVERYBODY*

*Ignorance of very definition of TARGET MARKET

Promotional Efforts Starbucks Card

Coffee services delivered to offices and drive-thru connivance

Appealing to a diverse customer base; more than just coffee!

Philanthropy

Corporate Social Responsibility

Controversies

US Army viral email scandal ‘The Way I See It’ Labor disputes

Industrial Workers of the World -> UNIONIZED!

Market strategy Saturating the market Anticompetitive attitude

Recent Changes

Opening of 900 stores internationally announced in 2009…but 900 store closures

throughout US since 2008

Price increases… in a suspicious economy?

New competition!

Final Assessment

Starbucks is going strong and fighting to stay at the top!

Questions

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