Starbucks. Expect More Than Coffee.

Starbucks.  Expect More Than Coffee.

I probably spend $10-$20 per week on coffee, and not just any coffee, Starbuck’s coffee. I just love coffee and Starbuck’s make’s it so easy. A couple years ago I was given a Starbuck’s gift card for Christmas, and rather than toss it once depleted, I just continued to add to it. $20 here, $40 there. It is just so much easier than scrounging in my purse for cash. Maybe a little too easy.

But not only do I love their coffee, I love their stores, their image and what they stand for.

"To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time."

Doesn't that just make you feel warm and fuzzy inside? Think about it - you've had a long night, a restless sleep, you wake up and what is the first thing you reach for? Well for me, it's coffee. A beautiful, rich, dark cup of coffee. It warms my soul, my human spirit.  One sip and I am a whole new woman. 

(I feel somewhat validated that this was their intention all along. ;) Just kidding.)

But truthfully, their mission statement really says it all – they focus on the coffee, the individual and the community. 

While Starbuck’s is without a doubt a multi-national corporation (that sells more than just coffee), they continue to remind their customers that they too were once the “coffee shop on the corner”, and it is their goal to continue to treat their customers as though they still are. 

In their corporate principles they use words such as “neighborhood gathering place” and “community”, “human connection” and “belonging”. Employees are encouraged to get to know their customer’s names and remember their “usual”. Community events listed on their bulletin board are indeed that, community events. Not some big national drive run by the head office. [Individual --> Connection <-- Neighborhood]. All intended to make the customer feel as though they are walking into their local mom & pop coffee shop. 

Now I know Starbuck’s has endured their share of controversy over the years, but they have spent a great deal of time (and money) combating this controversy and creating a new image. (For the fifth year in a row, Ethisphere Magazine has named Starbucks to the list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies).

Recently the company changed its logo and re-branded all of their products as green – literally and figuratively. Their color of choice is green but their image is also all about being environmentally friendly (and all that this implies).

As a coffee addict lover, I would say that there are two types of coffee drinkers in this world: those who know good coffee and those who think Dunkin Donuts is good coffee (that’s a whole other blog!). Starbuck’s certainly does have a reputation as expensive coffee. Frankly, I am not sure Starbuck’s is concerned with dispelling this myth. Starbuck’s concern is with quality, not quantity and therefore their target audience is people who are interested in how good the cup of coffee is (and how it makes them feel), rather than how much it costs.