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Starbucks

Introduction
When Starbucks chooses to create a new product or open a new store they must take many factors into consideration. With the creation of the new Crème Frappuccino, Starbucks needed to consider in what areas to introduce the new drink, the market segmentation they were going to target and what type of new look the new non-coffee drink should have. Since the introduction of the Crème Frappuccino, competitors wishing to also penetrate the coffee market are now giving Starbucks competition that has not been felt before. With this new competition and the state of the economy, Starbucks is now looking to reposition their new product in ways that will retain current consumers and draw in new consumers. Starbucks will need to evaluate the 4 P’s (Price, Product, Place, and Promotion) to determine in which direction they will pursue with the new Crème Frappuccino. This paper will discuss key elements in the consumer decision making process evaluate and access the direction Starbucks should take to market their new product to current consumer and new potential consumers.
Existing Target Markets
At first, only young urban professionals patronized Starbucks; now it attracts a much wider demographic of customers including people of different ethnic backgrounds and ages. Today, Starbucks has a striking number of 25 million people visitors in its stores each week (Serwer, para. 11). The most obvious consumer Starbucks is trying to reach is the coffee drinker. Starbucks has expanded its list of products to reach any and everyone, and has changed the palette of coffee drinkers everywhere. Latte’s, mocha’s, frappuccino’s, teas and iced or blended cold coffee drinks are not normal items on a coffee shop’s menu. Creamy, sweet bold flavors are churned out to by the second and the Wi-Fi connection can occasionally be slow due to the large number of users logged on at one time. Starbucks markets their products to everyone under the sun: Business men and women...