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Starbucks Case Study

Introduction
Starbuck’s strategy focused on three components; high-quality coffee, intimate service, and ambient atmosphere. Starbucks worked closely with growers in Africa, South and Central America, and Asia-Pacific regions to insure the quality of its product. Starbucks called all employees' "partners" and worked hard to train them with the skills necessary to best serve the customer. The atmosphere at Starbucks was crafted after the European-style espresso bar. The company goal was to create ambience through the Starbucks "experience" and by making the area comfortable, yet upscale.
Its primary objective was, simply put, to become the “most recognized and respected brand in the world.” This objective required most of the company’s strategic goals to be based on company growth and product innovation. There were many opportunities that made expansion plausible, such as a rise in coffee consumption and untapped metropolitan areas. Starbucks had reached all of its success without spending a large amount of money on advertising. Point-of-sale materials were primarily used and their local-store marketing was far less than the industry average.

Background
Starbucks originally opened in 1971. The Seattle based store began by selling whole Arabic coffee beans to consumers. In 1987 it was purchased by Howard Schultz and he made the company what it is today. The company started selling coffee by the cup and opened new stores in various locations. There were 140 stores in the Northwest and Chicago by 1992, and it was at that time that Schultz decided to take the company public. This allowed him to raise $25 million and open stores across the nation. Starbucks was the dominant specialty-coffee chain in North America by 2002. There were over 5,000 stores which served over 20 million customers world wide.

Problem Description
Starbucks faced various challenges in moving forward. Their marketing research shed light on the fact that their focus had...