Does Starbucks Need to Advertise?
Via Opinionated Marketer, Jackie Huba is pondering on this. Here’s some of the post to jog your synapses:
Why advertise? Because store visits are down 1% from same time last year. The stock price is falling…
To save money, Starbucks has:
* Switched from hand-pulled espresso shots to automatic espresso machines.
* Eliminated the aroma of ground fresh coffee in stores in lieu of “flavor locked packaging.”
* Streamlined store designs; today, they lack the customized funky cool of yore.Starbucks wants to please Wall Street, so it’s chasing the P/E carrot by opening stores at breakneck speed.
I saw one of the commercials, “bear hug,” last night. A woman is out snowshoeing (which I love to do) - sees a bear (who looks equally puzzled to see her) - then walks up and gives it a big hug. Now, I live out west - where we have bears (and mountain lions, bobcats, wolves and coyotes) - and I love nature, but it’s neither cuddly nor kind out there. If you see a bear, you try very, very hard to get away from the bear, not hug it. So the commercial itself made me roll my eyes - and then the close of the pitch was for white chocolate cinnamon crispy crunch mocha or some damned thing. Whatever happened to coffee? (I’m drinking free-trade organic, shade-grown, French Roast right now and it’s really tasty - no frippery required or wanted.)
The bigger question is - why does Starbucks feel they need to advertise? And who are they trying to reach? People who don’t like coffee? People who drink Dunkin’? (which based on what I’ve read, seen and experienced is a different demographic anyway - they’re not going to come to Starbucks). Does anybody in the U.S. not know about Starbucks? At one time, the company knew it was in the ambiance business - not the coffee (or calorie-laden drink) business.
I know what I think happened. Whaddaya think?
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