Starbucks Marketing Strategy

Starbucks is a famous coffee chain that was incorporated in 1971 to mainly focus on roasting, retailing whole beans, and coffee, spices, and tea. Today, the company is operating in more than 70 countries making it quite successful in connecting with customers via its network of over 24,000 retail outlets across the world.

Starbucks is an international brand that endeavours to offer the best customer experience by providing the best coffee in the market. However, to maintain its good reputation, Starbucks has employed some market strategies that we explore in this post. Check them out:

Premium Quality Products

Starbucks has put in place a unique marketing strategy that begins right from its products. As the world’s best coffee brand, the company has used quality-based differentiation to distinguish itself from competitors. With the best quality products right from its humble beginnings, it has managed to sprout throughout the world to become the number one coffee retailer. Moreover, it has managed to cement its high popularity and customer loyalty owing to its quality-based product differentiation.

Consistency in Branding and Customer Experience

When it comes to branding, Starbucks has maintained consistency regardless of the country or location. Its iconic logo has remained constant even after the company has gone through different redesigns. Whenever you see the green Siren, it is Starbucks that pops in your mind. With the latest redesign removing all the texts leaving just the logo, it means the brand can be put anywhere and on any product yet it delivers the same appeal minus appearing out of place.

Starbucks has always ensured that it provides its customers with a unique experience so that they continue coming for more. As such, the company has made brand ambassadors out of its customers, therefore, making its products proud anywhere they go.

Loyalty Program

Starbucks has put in place a good reward program through which they entice their customers to buy their products. The reward program involves giving of rewards that may include free products, free in-store refills, cash-back offers, and gift cards. Amazing discounts and other different offers also ensure customers benefit from the Starbucks network. The bottom line is that increasing sales and traffic can be a lot easier when customers feel they matter and are getting rewards.

Experiential Locations

Starbucks has justly earned its reputation as one of the leading coffee chains because of the way they have created an amazing environment around its locations across the world. Everywhere Starbucks has been established, whether it is in the malls, airport, or in the streets, you will always feel the same experience. You will relax, feel happy, or work without worrying about anything.

Moreover, there are plenty of drinks and food and people can have their lunch meetings or business right there. You can also hang out with your friends at Starbucks and not feel even the slightest feeling of being away from home. The ambience at Starbucks premises is what other brands struggle to replicate but in vain.

Image of an Ethical Brand

For Starbucks to market itself as an ethical brand, it has mainly portrayed itself as a quality-focused, customer-oriented, and responsible business. Besides, having great-looking stores where customers enjoy a great cup of quality coffee, the company had focused on creating an ethical image. Almost all of Starbucks’ coffee is ethically sourced from suppliers around the globe.

As such, the company strengthens its ethical image that has over time proved favorable in marketing. The image of an ethical and responsible brand can be a major benefit for any business that is marked by heavy competition. This is because customers become more loyal to brands that are socially responsible and environmental-friendly.

Starbucks is known as one of the most socially responsible companies in the world. On many occasions, the company has served as social advocates at both local and international levels. It has openly recognized LGBT rights and has established its stores as safe for people of all sexuality. This is something most brands have not drawn the line on and have chosen to remain neutral.

Also, Starbucks regularly donates to humanitarian activities around the globe by providing millions of dollars for migrants and refugees. Starbucks launched an initiative to recruit up to 10,000 military veterans into its human resource, a move that got it applauded across the U.S. The bottom line is that Starbucks is socially responsible and generously contributes to the well-being of communities in across the world.

Starbucks has thrived in building a culture on social media that any advertising team can pride in. It does this to ensure the company creates large social media channels that repurpose content uniformity across all channels as well as directly interacting with customers.

The company creates plenty of content which it breaks down into different smaller units that are reused across various channels. Each social media platform requires unique content according to the kind of users therefore the language is often distinct, friendly, and simple.

Starbucks always encourages customers to take pictures with their Starbuck coffee cups and at their stores then share them with social media. The brand can then retweet these pictures as well as use them in campaigns. The brand also regularly carries out promotions and contests o social media where it rewards shares, mentions, and likes. Better yet, it ensures that customers with issues and queries about the brand on social media get a response as first as possible.

Conclusion

Starbucks is a testimony that it is possible to build a marketing strategy for a brand from the ground level up while maintaining a friendly human face, top-notch customer experience, and a great brand. It has done this by taking advantage of technology to command a huge social media following across its websites and apps. This has worked in their favour by bringing products closer to their customers. These customers have become Starbucks brand ambassadors and advocates resulting in a free market pull as well as making the running of referral programs easier.

While Starbucks is doing all these, it has remained socially responsible which has earned them a great reputation. For Starbucks, marketing never stops. It can be done through a mix of carefully chosen strategies for the betterment of the brand.

Starbucks Marketing Strategy