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, [...]

The underlying marketing problem that Starbucks has lies in its failure to see that its marketing strategies do not necessarily meet its marketing objectives. It wanted to expand but failed to see that it has not necessarily been meeting the market. Market profile was shifting to characteristics that the brand was not originally marketed for. [...]

Starbucks’ strength rested on four factors: retail expansion, product and service innovation, having an observed clean store, and being a brand associated with the specialty/gourmet coffee niche. The strongest attribute that consumers associate with the Starbucks brand is its being known for specialty/gourmet coffee. Starbucks is a widely-recognized brand. Its top-of-mind recall is high. It [...]

In its first few years, Starbucks found itself in a competitive environment that was not too stiff. The market was largely composed of small-scale coffee chains that were basically regionally-based and not as widely-distributed across the continent as Starbucks has been. There were also thousands of independent specialty-coffee shops that also served a wide range [...]