In 1982, Starbucks was originally marketed as America’s “third place,” with ‘home’ and ‘work’ as the other two. 20 years later in 2002, it was the dominant specialty-coffee brand across North America, with practically no advertising expenses except for point-of-sale collaterals and local store marketing efforts. Also in that year, Starbucks was selling to 20 million customers in more than 5,000 stores across the globe. It was opening an average of three new stores a day. It seemed to be a product idea whose time has come.

The major issues that confronted Starbucks from the offing were hugely positive. When Starbucks was showing tremendous growth, its owners thought that they were close to having a recession-proof product. After all, it had been proving 11 consecutive years of 5 percent or higher comparative store sales growth. Its brand strategy has been clearly implemented. Starbucks has, indeed, become a cultural entity.

The company has been using three strategies. It works directly with coffee growers in countries of coffee origin. It creates a sense of customer intimacy whereby a store client gets a cup that is deemed especially for him or her which creates an uplifting experience each time a customer walks through the door. It creates a homey and cozy atmosphere within the store as if the customer comfortably sips coffee right in his or her own living room.

Starbucks coffee makes its product a functional tool of community spirit and personal experience. It reaches people where they are and where they work. This can be attributed to massive retail expansion. This places Starbucks right in the midst of everyday life to become a major part of daily living.

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Via Starbucks.com