The Starbucks story began in 1971 in downtown Seattle, when three academics opened their first Starbucks coffee shop. During the next decade, Starbucks expanded to four locations in close proximity of Seattle. At the time of founding, the original focus was to sell whole bean and ground coffee, coffee-making equipment, and coffee-related accessories and supplies. At first, they did not sell coffee by the cup, but instead provided small samples for customers to taste. The founders had a passion for creating unique blends and distinguished dark roasting techniques utilizing their expertise in selecting the best coffees.
Howard Schultz, future CEO of the company, stepped into his first Starbucks in 1981, and was immediately hooked by the atmosphere, aroma and experience of enjoying superb coffee. Visiting Italy in 1983, he fell in love with the community feel of the Italian barista coffee culture. Schultz got involved with the company and became CEO in 1987, with a clear vision of expanding the Italian barista culture to the US and Canada. Schultz acted as CEO up until 2000, and during his time Starbucks experience substantial growth both in the US and abroad. By 2006, Starbucks had nearly 12 500 stores with new ones set up at a rate of 6 per day!
Nowadays, Starbucks has over 18 000 retail stores in 62 countries with over 150 000 parters and millions of customers a day. Their mission is to inspire and nurture the human spirit — one coffee cup at a time. They want to offer the best coffee possible with the highest standards in quality and ethical sourcing practices. And with every sold cup, Starbucks strives to bring their heritage and exceptional experience to life.
Starbuck’s most important key success factor is the Starbucks experience. The Starbucks experience has always relied on values such as quality, passion, and community to enhance the customer experience. Coffee is offered in various ways and with numerous tweaks to satisfy the needs of everyone. This experience, coupled with their most important strength, their brand name, makes people see coffee and think Starbucks.
During recent years, however, the experience has transformed from a friendly neighborhood coffee shop into a mass-market chain store experience. This commoditization issue is depicted in Howard Schultz’s memo to CEO Jim Donald on February 14, 2007 (Aalto course TU-91.2045 class readings). Schultz states that “we have had to make a series of decisions that, in retrospect, have lead to the watering down of the Starbucks experience, and, what some might call the commoditization of our brand”.
In order for Starbucks to recapture their heritage, tradition, and passion, and make it in Finland, customers need to feel the same way they did decades ago. Enhancing the customer experience will bring Starbucks into the hearts of Finns, the largest coffee consumers per capita (12kg annually!). Therefore, bringing back both old adaptations along with a spoonful new innovations will give Starbucks the competitive advantage they need in Finland.
Read next article: SWOT analysis
Read previous article: Market analysis
In order for Starbucks to recapture their heritage, tradition, and passion, and make it in Finland, customers need to feel the same way they did decades ago. Enhancing the customer experience will bring Starbucks into the hearts of Finns, the largest coffee consumers per capita (12kg annually!). Therefore, bringing back both old adaptations along with a spoonful new innovations will give Starbucks the competitive advantage they need in Finland.
Read next article: SWOT analysis
Read previous article: Market analysis
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