Amazing the fix Starbucks finds themselves in now! Of course, anyone in our line of work will be paying attention to this profound change of fortune for this iconic brand. What happened? I ‘ve read a great deal about this, in the main-stream media, the trade press, and the marketing blogs ad infinitum.
I can’t help getting my two cents in on this. What happened? Starbucks is closing stores! 600 of em… who’da thought. Besides the obvious reasons for the turn of fortune:
- ubiquitous expansion
- diluting the brand essence with this extension idea and that
food item
- taking out the couches to fit more people in line
- the demands of Wall Street for bigger returns on investment
- blah, blah, blah
I have my idea as to what is happening to Starbucks.
Bringing back the silly old logo as a way of saying to the masses "hey we’re back to what made of us good in the first place". Nope, too little, too late for the 600 stores and thousands of unemployed baristas. I’m thinking something else more insidious is doing in this brand legend.
Gasoline prices…
We are in a brave new world where people now choose between the $4+ non fat, double expresso latte on the drive to work…or the $4+ gallon of gas to get to work. It’s simple economics. You can’t blame Starbucks circumstances on poor marketing. To me this is a no-brainer. The context in which this brand has prospered has changed. The cost of gasoline is changing the game for every "lifestyle" brand. People simply will find more affordable ways to get a cup o’ joe in the morning. The economic model on which Starbucks prosperity has been based is no longer relevant to the context in which customers are now living their lives.
For Starbucks, and a host of other brand marketers who depend on a vigorous consumer economy for their viability, it’s a new ball game. Looking back to the good ol days won’t fix it.
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WOW – great comments. I agree. I am choosing gas over the $4 latte myself!
And yes – a little too little too late.