Starbucks is a premium coffee producing company that has mainly been focusing on their end-user dynamic spending to make big sales as they cut through a very competitive market. Over the previous years the company has shown the market that it is still the most trusted and fast moving in the coffee retail segment, all around the world. Such stand out has been an approval by an increased number of f outstanding outlets around the globe that mainly offer hot and cold coffee drinks, other different coffee accessories, and a bit of different items. To make it unique and show how outstanding it has been over the years, the company has been marketing its products through its major grocery sites and also by licensing its brand for other different food and drinks products (Harrell, 2008, pg58).
Consumers have played another big role to see the company come to the top on the coffee sales score chart by deciding to be loyal and paid attention to the company’s advancement in the quality of products produced. Such achievements have been as a result of the company’s investment in the new ways of marketing and selling to out-beat the current recessions that are being experienced globally. The brand development and marketing teams have been able to carryout product diversification and differentiation to come up with consumer friendly products that have always been easy to market them.
Another way that the company has concentrated so much when it comes to branding is through luxury branding, which has been a major step-up for the company to be well recognized and be given better name status at the global market. This luxury branding of products has comes with a high income elasticity demand (Ward, 2008), indicating that the products under this category are influenced by the increased consumer income.
2,2 Analysis of Promotions
Starbucks has made luxury branding to be an effective and efficient mode of selling their differentiated products. This has been made to be possible through efficient and effective methods of communication. With time it has been discovered that luxury brands have made a significant advancement and general company growth as compared to the mass market branding, especially in such times of economical hiccups (Clow, 2009, Pg 35). This is as a result of marketing luxury markets in different market niche where exclusive customers are willing to spend on such product prices. The advantage of this mode of marketing over the other modes is that during the downfall or economic hardships such luxury products will hardly be affected as customer will be in a better position to maintain their luxurious standards of living even if everything is down (Soon-hwa, 2009). Luxury brands have been providing very creative leadership within different departments within the company, across all branches of Starbucks and also making sure that the image of luxury goods is greatly guarded. This has always been as a result of the effect caused by luxury brands in the journey of preserving various investments made over the previous financials years.
Starbucks has opted for another product promotion strategy, through e-marketing, which has seen it grow in the area of brand selling and general company performance. The company is being hosted by various business and social website offers, such as facebook, and twitters of which the acceptance and responses has received a positive backup (Arens, 2010, pg 198). These are better social media strategies and tactics for ensuring that the products are all a long promoted in a better way. Starbucks have also been very active and front bearer in integrating their different touch points within the market cycle, for example, Starbucks is involving in promoting the company’s Ice Cream on the facebook and other social and professional websites.
Buy (STARBUCKS)RED Help save lives (Pham-Gia, 2009, pg10) is another product promotion that is highlighting on the corporate social responsibility which has seen the company, Starbucks, and its community at large to get involved in local communities that have always been constant in growing coffee all over the world. Starbucks have partnered with (RED)TM in developing programs that are aimed at helping poor communities come to terms accepting Starbucks new ways of doing better on a daily basis (Pham-Gia, 2009, pg10).
2,3 Conclusion
Smith (2008) argues that the perception of believing that luxury goods have an immune state to the economic recession has completely changed over the past one year due to rapid fluctuations within the exchange rates and bad economic in instability. I have liked the point that Starbucks has been able to access to different touch points that had been brought together within a single strategic market plan. To the overall consumer awareness, this is a better way of using social media for awareness campaigns and product and services launches. It also demonstrates how such marketing and promoting campaign shows by using social media is a fruitful and worthy business in the making.
Reference
Arens, F. (2010) Contemporary advertising (10th ed), New York City. McGraw-Hill Highe Education,
Clow, E. (2009) Integrated Advertising Promotion, and Marketing Communication, Chicago. Pearson Education.Harrell, G (2008) Marketing: connecting with customers (3rd e,d). Prentice Hall,
Inna Ward.(2008).Whitaker’s Concise Almanack 2008, A & C Black
Pham-Gia, K. (2009) Marketing Strategy of ‘Starbucks Coffee’. GRIN Verlag Publishers.
Soon-Hwa Oh.(2009). From Art School to Art World: Network of Relationships as a Transitional Mechanism in Professionalization of Young Artists DM Verlag
