TV ads. will they work?

This article is really sad because it explains how Starbucks used to be so independently popular and now it’s going to all resorts, including television ads in order to get their business back. Starbucks is down by 77% since last year and we can all tell. Once again, here’s another article on how Starbucks is starting to go down the drain and doing everything possible to avoid this. Now millions of previous Starbucks customers won’t shell out for a cappacino. The problem is now a reality. Starbucks new campaign concinving customers that the price problem is actually a myth.

            The real problem, according to Starbucks is that people believe something about Starbucks that isn’t true. The article explains that although it seems old fashioned, tv is still the most effective way to get customers back and prove a point. The new campaign, as discussed in previous blogs is one to prove to competitors like McDonalds and Dunkin’ Donuts that their coffee may be a tad more expensive but it’s worth it because theirs is fresh and made to order. Let’s hope Burt Helm, from Business Weekly is right when he says the TV ads are the most effective ones.

            There new slogan, “It’s not just coffee, it’s Starbucks” describes the campaign in a nutshell. The TV ads, according to Helm will reach the most passive couch potato, guaranteed.

            One ad shows Schultz, the CEO, asking baristis about their coffee. They claim that they pour their heart into it. Personally, I think that’s taking it a little far. What does that even mean? Coffee is coffee. Some might be better than other, which I agree with, but saying your pour your heart into it isn’t going to change anything for me. On the other hand, that slogan might appeal to the ethos side of things. Coffee is, in fact an experience, and it can go a lot deeper than just drinking coffee. That is the point that starbucks is trying to get across. Even if it’s only to get sales back up, our country is searching for something or some hope in this day in age, and the new campaign might just be exactly what they ordered. We’ll have to wait and see. 

Who really comes out on top???

Article: http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/food/1560077,CST-NWS-coffeetest06.article

Finally, in an article from the Chicago Sun Times, Janet Fuller takes action and tests out McDonald’s, Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donut’s coffee to see what consumers really prefer. Because of the recent competitive spirit by all three companies, Fuller decided it would be a good idea to see which coffee was actually preferred.

            When ordering the coffee, McDonald’s took the least amount of time to make and came in at $3.19, for a 22-oz. Starbucks was $3.69 for a 20-oz and Dunkin' Donuts was $3.49 for a 20-oz. The tasters were three coffee-drinking Chicagoans who were asked to join in a blind taste test. All three agreed that McDonalds was dominated by a hazelnut flavor. Three of the four chose Starbucks, and the other one chose McDonald’s for a overall favorite. Most of them complained of the sweetness in the McDonald’s coffee and a good percentage complained of Starbucks being too strong.

            I’m really glad this was done because it goes back to the important thing, and that is what tastes the best. Starbucks has always been known for their good tasting coffee but is this true. Well I don’t think a better audience could have been chosen to test this out. All four of the testers were regular coffee drinkers and knew all the brands well.

            When it comes down to it, Starbucks gets so much grief from the media and our society for being so expensive, but this just proves that the money is worth it. Starbucks claims to only source the best coffee out there and they are right. Some people don’t have a preference, and for those people, go to McDonalds and get a cheap sugary coffee. But for those of us who care about the taste and freshness of our coffee, stick with Starbucks. It’s on average about a quarter more, which does add up, but if you are going to spend money on coffee, why not go all out? Go big or go home, that’s my motto.

            Let’s hope that Starbucks new campaign and cut in prices will reel some customers back in to the cafe we all know and love.

McCafe taking over??

 

I love this author! I was laughing my head off the whole way through. In this news report, Dan Neil explains the new continuous battle for the coffee between Starbucks and McDonalds.

            McDonalds just came out with a huge $10 million campaign to promote their cappuccinos, lattes, iced coffees and hot chocolate. This is the largest campaign McDonald’s has had since they came out with breakfast in 1970. This shows the aggression of the company to take over the coffee world. Neil explains that this could be hard to do for reasons I have discussed in previous blogs. The jist of it is that Starbucks is known to be a prestigious, well made coffee for elite people to go to. The problem is, in recent years, Starbucks has lost that aspect of the corporation, which was a huge mistake considering that was the part about them that really drew people in.

            With Starbucks’ new campaign, they are trying to bring this aspect back. The past couple years have been rough for the “green mermaid”, but the good news is recently, their losses have stabilized. Neil predicts this is starting for two reasons. The first is that maybe Starbucks' clientele is clinging to a hope for better times in the future, or they are spending money on affordable luxuries, while necessities grow increasingly unaffordable.

            Neil brings up a very good point concerning the McDonald’s campaign. The word McCafé doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. Having three stressed syllables makes it a hard word to say. I totally agree with this. The campaign will be a hard one to talk about casually for this reason.

            Even though Starbucks is starting the new campaign to attempt and bring it back to their original state, I doubt that can be done with the new items on the menu that resemble fast food milkshakes. According to Neil, a decade ago, the Starbucks audience was primarily affluent, college-educated intellectuals, a self-selected group of customers. Starbucks was the one who imported the notion of cafe society into the United States. It was the promised "third place" between home and work, where one could relax, read, talk and delectify a good cuppa in peace. Starbucks was social without the media. Things are really different now, and it looks to me like they won’t be going back. 

I'm headed to work...at Starbucks.

Article: http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20090502/ARTICLES/904309937/1008?Title=When-the-office-is-a-coffee-shop-it-s-a-different-buzz

 

Ever seen someone sitting at Starbucks with a computer, coffee, and a phone in the middle of the day? There’s a good chance they are out of a job and have made Starbucks their office. With the Wi-Fi opportunities and the comfortable and quiet atmosphere, Starbucks is the perfect place to work. Jill Colvin from the Columbia news service put a new twist on things when she explained that Starbucks’ sails should actually be heading against the recession because of all the people who are out of work that have now made Starbucks their new office.

The cool thing about it is that Starbucks is helping one aspect of our economy that is growing. Colvin explains that even before the economic downturn, America’s independent workforce was growing, with more than 10 million independent contractors, consultants and freelancers in February 2005, according to Steve Hipple of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Now, in more recent months, their numbers have soared, with Web sites such as ODesk, which matches employees with independent contractors, reporting an increase of 450 percent. Starbucks is actively participating in this soaring business and benefiting from it. Or are they? Some would say that because there are so many business people taking up desks all day, others are less likely to come in and get a cup of coffee, thereby hurting Starbuck’s business. Either way though, Starbucks is getting more and more people coming in every day who have lost their jobs and are using Starbucks as a place to work and use the online resources to get back into a steady job.

This gives me an appreciation for Starbucks and their laid back environment with chairs and good music where ANYONE can come and do whatever they want. Starbucks deserves a pat on the back for providing this working space, whatever the motives may be.

Doug Lange seems to think a little differently. He says internet at Starbucks has become a huge problem. Starbucks used to be a place where people would come and talk and be a community of people, now people are selfishly absorbed in their own lives. But isn’t this true of our whole society nowadays? What is Starbucks going to do? Stop having Wi-Fi? That would be foolish and dumb. All they can do is provide the best atmosphere for sales possible, and hope and pray they make some money.

Starbucks Declares War...

article:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124112408062074463.html

This article kind of sums up what a lot of the previous articles have been talking about but now Starbucks is actually taking steps to compete with these newfound competitors such as McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts. Although Starbucks is not coming out and actually saying anything, they are basically implying with their new ads that if you being the consumer choose to “compromise” your coffee, you will regret it in the end. The corporation has decided to use advertising to play with people’s consciences.

            This could or could not be a realistic approach. Although the words in the ads are putting guilt trips on the consumers, the problem is this isn’t a real moral issue. There is nothing in our conscience that tells us that it is wrong to drink bad or not as good coffee. Or is there? Maybe for avid coffee drinkers, there could be a sense of guilt for not showing loyalty to Starbucks since for all these years, they had been loyal customers, or they could really not care and choose to care more about their wallets in this hard time.

            Is Starbucks using these ads to foreshadow a coming price drop in the coffee? Or is this just purely a advertising technique. The article reported that Starbucks plans for this campaign to be long-term, which make me think this could be the first step in drawing our society back into an obsession and addiction to “$4 lattes”. The article also reported that McDonald’s recently displayed a billboard that read, “four bucks is dumb” which shows that McDonald’s is fully aware of the battle for the consumer.

            In my opinion, our society is so wrapped up in image and status that Starbucks looks like it could win this battle. In other words, if the recession improves, people will go back to the more elite Starbucks. But this is a big if. No one knows where our society is headed so Starbucks is definitely taking a risk, but I can also sense them scheming something in the near future which would cause everyone to go right back where they came from, living the American dream, drinking a “4$ latte”.

Value Meals...at Starbucks?

article:http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/03/04/starbucks-3-95-breakfast-brand-new-day/

Starbucks has finally joined the masses and introduced a so-called "value-meal". For $3.95, customers can get a breakfast item, either a sandwhich or oatmeal, and a latte. Sound like a revolutionary idea? It does theoretically, but the problem is, the same loyal Starbucks customers will be enjoying these deals, but that's not what Starbucks is aiming at. Starbucks used this new deal to bring back in the unfaithful Starbucks customers who have now turned to McDonald's, and to customers who have never gone to Starbucks because of the prices.

The problem is this new deal is not doing that, 3.95 is still a good half-dollar more than a McDonalds combo meal which includes a sausage or egg Mcmuffin, a hashbrown, and coffee. Plus the fact that it's probably faster. In these hard times, there's a good chance customers will turn to this option.

Some Starbucks customers are very concerned that the company is spinning out of control and is starting to look more like old navy when it should look like Lacoste. This is true. Not only are they lowering their standards by introducing this new value product, but they are changing who they are. This is what people love about Starbucks, the class and the high-scale products. This new value meal almost seems to cheapen it.

The good news is that Starbucks stock has gone up 8 cents since the new deal. This could be a temporary high that could be followed by a bigger drop than before for the reasons listed above. I like the new deal personally, and I can see myself getting sucked into getting it. Also, oatmeal is bery nutritious and in a society where people are constantly looking for healthy options, this is a great draw to the new deal.

For now, it looks like things are going up for Starbucks so let's hope it stays this way for a long time. The good news is, despite the new value meal, the infamous Starbucks coffee still exists, and isn't that was initially drew people to the world famous coffee shop. Ultimately the coffee will draw people despite any other sales pitch the corporation may try to offer to work against the current recession.

Bye Bye Wolf Coffee, Hello Starbucks

Article:http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090420/ARTICLES/904209934/1349?Title=Last-cup-for-Wolf-Coffee

Why are there Starbucks EVERYHWHERE? I don't know, but Wolf Coffee is asking the same question. According to Kevin Mccallum, Wolf Coffee's original intentions were to provide a sit down coffee place where customers could go to enjoy a cup of coffee in Sonoma County, CA. The problem is, Starbucks has literally run the once largest independent coffee house chain in Sonoma County out.

Mccallum explains that the once successful coffee shop now has at least 4 Starbucks right around it, and no one would even be able to find the shop without first running into numerous Starbucks. This is pretty ridiculous, considering Wolf is a local and very popular coffee shop that i'm sure has a lot of history in the county. It's a shame that Starbucks is running out the more laid back, enjoying coffee shops, where customers can go to enjoy a cup of coffee and a book, and reflect on their life. It wasn't just one or two stores, but the 42 stores total in the area have really taken a toll of the business at Wolf coffee.

Rick and Jeannie Mariani, the owners of Wolf explained that our culture was once a sit-down and enjoy a cup of coffee kind of culture, but it has turned into such a fast paced, drive-through, type culture. This is why a place like Wolf was bound to go under. Wolf will still be operating a whole sale business so the coffee can be sold at grocery stores and other shops, but there will be no more actual coffee shops.

I am from a very fun city where we, the residents, pride ourselves on the small local restaurants and coffee shops. So I, speaking from experience, would be very upset to hear if one of these shops were closing. Wolf has every right to be annoyed with the whole sitation, considering their initial success. Starbucks should probably rethink this because they are going to end up with a lot of bitter customers who refuse to add to their monopoly on coffee houses.

Also, now that Starbucks is starting to close down stores aroudn the nation, i'm sure they understand the feeling. It could be Karma, or maybe just the downturn in the economy, whatever it is, both companies are hurting bad.