Starbucks should enhance its high-end character. It should concentrate on its biggest strength which is being perceived as a high-end specialty coffee store. This strategy is to keep it loyal costumers loyal. The interiors of its stores should remain as such for the sake of its high-end market that will continue to frequent the cozy, homey, and clean stores. Nothing should change along these lines because the high-end market will continue to shell out premium product cost for product plus ambience.

The marketing strategies that have been implemented through in-store marketing campaigns and point-of-sale collaterals should remain for the usual market. These people have already associated the brand with these factors. Starbucks should not rock the boat. For the sake of the usual market, Starbucks should stay as how people have known it through the decades.

Starbucks should also remain a pure brand. It should be known as it is with no changes that can be brought in due to co-branding with other brand names. It should be a stand-alone brand, capitalizing on its highly-recognizable name and reputation. Equal partnerships with other known brands will only dilute the brand and water down market perception. It should be an exclusive brand.

Since Starbucks’ usual market, high-end in nature, is willing to pay for the usual high-end product costs, the company should not deviate much from its pricing schemes. To drastically cut the product prices will result in an image of non-exclusivity. Starbucks should be loyal to its loyal customers that are known to visit the store at least eighteen times in a month.

There is, however, the wide potential market of low-end profile. Starbucks should create a sister brand that will cater to this market base, without intermingling it with the high-end market group. In other words, Starbucks should not mix the two markets under the same roof. Doing so will only gradually cancel the two. Starbucks should open and expand into a new line of retail coffee stores that can offer lower-priced concoctions, offer marketing gimmicks that cater to the new market upon consideration of its characteristics, and offer a store ambience that is more suited to the new market’s character.

This new line of coffee retail stores may not necessarily be new constructions. Some of the already existing stores can be transformed into this new market stores. The company can also offer the concept to potential franchisees. The consideration to transform an existing store will depend on the market characteristics of the geographical areas. This new store would do better in an area that is less high-end.

The company can still keep its old identity via its name and logo, but with a new twist to it. Perhaps, an additional word or phrase to the Starbucks name can be appended as a new logo to create a seemingly new brand name. The world-renowned Starbucks identity now becomes aspirational for this new market segment.

Segregating the two markets of high-end and low-end by way of fashioning marketing strategies suited to each respective market characteristic will create for Starbucks a niche in each of the markets. Also, this will assure that customer satisfaction is met in each respective market. There shall be no confusion in market perception, as well as the Starbucks image.

Starbucks already has a strong brand recall. It is now time for all market segments to perceive the brand recall according to market niches.

Image

Via CNN/24/7 Wall St