Company analysis: Hypothesis

When taking into account the younger coffee drinking community and the increased online information about brands, we’ve formed a hypothesis about the Starbucks brand in Finland. As it’s an American company, and as Finns already know how to drink coffee, the reason they go to Starbuck’s is to get the ‘American experience’. Finnish consumers want a taste from abroad, and that’s the attitude Starbucks should take when entering Finland. They’re something special from abroad, an ‘exotic’ brand.

Having done field research in their first store, we noticed that the majority of customers are teenagers drinking specialty coffees. Furthermore, the fact that they had already ran out of some of their specialty coffees such as the Caramel frappuccino supports our hypothesis. Finns can drink plain coffee at home, just like they have for decades, but they can't get that specialty coffee 'drink' anywhere else than Starbucks.

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