In order to gain success in the business market, it is necessary that every organisation maintain and formulate strategies that help in establishing a competitive advantage. Therefore, it is necessary that the companies develop a brand and ensure that a target market is set so that implement its marketing strategy in an effective manner (Wasan & Tripathi, 2014). At the same time, formation of a marketing plan can help in analysing the market by considering the elements required for its domination. Development of a marketing metrics provides opportunities to attain objectives that are set by a company.
The report focuses on the marketing strategy and the capability of brand power that Starbucks enjoy in the international market. The application of the marketing plan by taking into consideration every marketing element is analysed. Starbucks is an American coffee company that is famous all over the world for its excellent quality of coffee. The company was established in 1971 and as of 2018 it has spread to over 28,218 locations worldwide (Starbucks.com, 2018).
As stated by Jaworski (2018) it is important for every company to identify its target market so that it can manufacture and innovate its products and services based on the needs of the customers. Analysis of the target customers is important for a company so that it can maintain its cultural identity and continue to function effectively in the competitive market.
In the case of Starbucks, the company targets customers that earn high income as well as tend to spend a large sum of money. It has been seen that the target market of Starbucks is often described as effluent given the fact that its revenue is $22.387 billion (Starbucks.com, 2018). However, majority of the people residing in the areas operated by Starbucks are middle-income people. Despite this Starbucks manages to gain the required amount of revenue for maintaining its dominance in the hospitality market.
Market share can be defined as a portion of market that can is controlled by a company. Market share defines the strength and dominating power of a company and the competitive advantage it can gain over its rivals. As stated by Cooke (2015) the public considers a company to be the leader of a market if it possess large market share in the industry. Analysis has shown that Starbucks have a 16.2% of the market share of home ground coffee.
The revenue of the company provides a proper knowledge of the performance it has in the market (Starbucks.com, 2018). Over the years, the company has seen a steady growth in the consumption of coffee. It has been reported that the sales rose by 4.1% by end of 2017, which has been claimed as the best performance of Starbucks in the last five years (Starbucks.com, 2018). Therefore, it can be said that the analysis of the market share signifies that Starbucks is a growing market.
According to Kumar (2015), competitors in the market help in the establishment of strategies that are beyond the expectations of the managers. These strategies can be used to gain a competitive advantage in the market and ensure that the customer satisfaction is gained. Starbucks operates in the competitive market of the USA and are faced by competition from similar coffee stores such as Costa Coffee, McDonald’s McCafe, Dunkin Donuts and Cafe Coffee Day and so on.
These rival companies provide Starbucks with a competition with the fact that it serves complimentary food that can be eaten with a cup of coffee. Although recently, Starbucks have also adopted the strategy after being pressured by the competitors, it does not own any advantage in the minds of the people over the supply of coffee as well as food (Lagat & Frankwick, 2017). Hence, it can be said that the competitors of have an advantage over the company.
The marketing mix elements help in the analysis of the positioning of the company based on its advantages it may gain in the market. Davcik and Sharma (2016) stated that brand positioning helps in identifying the needs of the customers and product innovation can be done keeping in mind the elements of marketing. The marketing mix strategy adopted by Starbucks sheds light on the fact that the company targets people that have high income implying that the price of the products are high. This in turn provides an idea about the quality of the product served by the company and the place from which it operates its business.
Starbucks outlets are usually placed in areas that connect roads with business locations (Starbucks.com, 2018). This provides opportunities to interact more with people and ensure that sustainability is maintained in the company. Hence, the positioning of the company based on the analysis of the marketing mix can be considered high in the market, above major competitors like Cafe Coffee Day or Dunking Donut.
The strength of a company helps in improving its current situation and works its way towards the top of the market. On the other hand, Lusch and Vargo (2014) are of the opinion that the weakness defines the limitations that a company possess that may be exposed by its competitors.
In the case of Starbucks, the strength of the company is that it has a strong presence in the market mainly due to its reputation. At the same time, it has extensive global supply chain that helps in its operations around the world (Starbucks.com, 2018). However, the weakness of the company is that it supplies generalised products that can be predicted by the customers. The price of the products also provides it with a disadvantage among the people in a society (Starbucks.com, 2018).
As stated by Menon et al. (2015) is of the opinion that opportunities received by a company provides scope of improvement and at the same time ensures that the companies formulate strategies to gain a competitive advantage in the market. The threats, on the other hand, define the competitors and any other internal or external factor that may provide hindrance to a company during its progress.
The opportunities of Starbucks are that the company is looking into spreading itself in the markets of Asia and the Middle East. At the same time owing to the competition and variety of products served by the competitors, diversification of the products served can provide opportunities for improvement of the company (Starbucks.com, 2018). The threat in this case involves the competitors such as Cafe Coffee Day that serves varieties of coffee and other beverages along with food at a reasonably low price than Starbucks. Starbucks have also been known to imitate products manufactured by competitors (Starbucks.com, 2018).
According to Nobre and Silva (2014), repositioning of a brand may bring about success if the particular brand suffers from loss of customers as well as competitive advantage. The repositioning can also open opportunities for future expansion in international market so that a company can grow its reputation and its business prowess. In the case of Starbucks, the company repositioning of the brand in the markets of Asia or Middle East can provide the company with an added advantage in the market.
As observed by Akgün, Keskin and Ayar (2014) the repositioning can help Starbucks to understand the market outside the USA and develop products that can be considered as the unique item for Starbucks. Hence, it can be said that repositioning of the company can help in the development of opportunities in the market.
As stated by Fernandes (2018) maintaining a target market can help companies to specify the type of product or service it needs to provide so that a competitive market can be gained. Target markets provide an opportunity for the companies to analyse the type of people that exist and segment them as per its capabilities.
In the case of Starbucks, it has been seen that the company targets people that have a high income and are willing to spend more money on the product (Starbucks.com, 2018). This is one of the weaknesses of the company as well as poses threat to the company because the competitors provide similar product with less price. Hence, it is necessary that the company changes its target market and ensure mid-income competitors are targeted that can help in maintaining the revenue. This can be done by lowering the prices of the coffee and promoting it so that it reaches the customers.
Developing objectives is necessary for a company so that it can maintain its business and ensure that the employees are provided with a target to achieve. As stated by Solberg (2017) in order to achieve its objectives, companies need the support from resources so that smooth attaining of the business can take place. The objective of Starbucks is to inspire and nurture the human spirits, that is believing in the policy of one coffee, one person and one neighbourhood at a time (Starbucks.com, 2018).
This can help the company to develop a cultural trend in the business market that also helps in maintaining sustainability. Hence, it can be said that resources required to attain the objective is the support from the people. The employees as well as the society need to support Starbucks so that it can attain its objective and ensure that diversity within the company is maintained (Starbucks.com, 2018).
The positioning of a particular brand need to be based on the analysis of its long-term, short-term and mid-term level. It is essential that a company approach and formulate strategies in a systematic manner so that it can gain more profit and ensure that errors are reduced in the workplace. Similarly, Starbucks need to ensure that the strategies formulated for the positioning of the brand need to be made in a systematic manner. During its short-term period after its expansion in the Asian market, Starbucks need to attain a position higher than the local coffee shops in the countries (Starbucks.com, 2018).
This can improve to gaining more revenue from the competitors by the time it reaches a mid-level period in the continent. For the long-term period, Starbucks need to focus on maintaining a corporate social responsibility and formulate partnerships with investors so that it can gain financial support (Starbucks.com, 2018).
According to Baker and Saren (2016), promotion strategy is requited so that a company can promote itself in the market. At the same time, any new changes brought about in the organisation in terms of products or services offered need to be provided to the customers. In the case of Starbucks, the company uses various promotional strategies so that it can communicate with the stakeholders.
For example, in case Starbucks wants to promote the introduction of donuts in the organisation it can spent its budget of advertisement. It has been reported that Starbucks spends up to $248 million dollars in the advertisements of its products (Starbucks.com, 2018). At the same time, it can use a customer loyalty scheme so that regular customers can get a discount after a purchase of a certain amount of order. For example, customer can be provided with a discount of $500 if the purchase of products amounts to $1500 in four visits to the shop.
The product or service offered by a company defines its success in the market. Wensley (2016) is of the opinion that every product or service need to be provided with quality so that a company can maintain its competitive advantage and ensure that customers do not remain dissatisfied with the company. Hence, the products need to be placed and provided in such a manner that can help in identifying the feedback of the customers.
Starbucks offers its customers with quality coffee and food, which includes opportunities for people to engage in breakfast, lunch or dinner. Although the company has brought these products into the fore recently, the popularity of Starbucks can help it to maintain a strong foundation in the market (Starbucks.com, 2018). Hence, the product strategy of Starbucks needs to address the satisfaction of the customers.
Pricing strategy is required so that during financial crisis companies can attempt to prevent serious loss. The manners in which the prices are decided include the popularity of the products and the effort required for its manufacturing (Zeriti et al., 2014). In the case of Starbucks, it has already been seen that the company has high prices for its products. Hence, it is necessary that the company minimise its prices so that mid-level income customers can gain opportunities to consume the product.
Starbucks uses the pricing strategies such as premium pricing, cost-plus, loss leader and going-rate (Starbucks.com, 2018). The application of premium pricing strategy for gaining advantage in the market can provide the company with an opportunity to remain competitive. Zhao and Zhu (2018) observed that Starbucks can use the perception of the customers relating to its high price and can set a premium price for the products sold by the company.
Bharadwaj (2015) is of the opinion that distribution channels are necessary for the goods and supplies to reach the target market and ensure that a proper supply chain process is maintained. This can help companies need to analyse the place from which it undertakes its distribution channels so that it can provide assistance to the customers and reduce the cost of transportation.
In the case of Starbucks, the company provides its products from the cafes. The cafes are placed strategically in locations that are frequented by people for either business purposes or residential purpose. One of the distribution strategies that can be introduced by Starbucks is ‘Starbucks on the Go’ that allow customers to get a taste of the coffee manufactured during the commencement of any journey. At the same time, developing applications can help Starbucks to provide online service to the customers (Starbucks.com, 2018).
The physical evidence denotes the ability of a customer to understand a particular product or service in terms of its availability. As stated by Kasabov (2015) the physical evidence in the modern world has been limited mainly because of the advent of online shopping. However, in companies such as Starbucks, the physical evidence denotes the quality of products and the services it provides to its customers.
It needs to be taken into consideration that Starbucks is popular for the quality of coffee it serves. Hence, the physical evidence of the company need to focus on the type of service it provides as well as the physical appearance of its stores. As stated by Aghazadeh (2015) the unique logo of the company helps in attracting customers and the strategy to imported for the improvement of the physical stores are to take every store into account individually.
The people denote the target customers of a company along with its employees. It is essential that satisfaction of the customers be maintained so that a competitive advantage can be gained in the market (Türk & Erci?, 2017). The target market can help in formulating products and services that can provide a proper analysis of the market and its factors.
Starbucks employs more than 230,000 employees and its aim is to increase the number to 250,000 within the end of 2022 (Starbucks.com, 2018). Hence, to do so the company need to undertake proper recruitment policy and encourage the development of a diverse workforce. At the same time, the target customers of the company need to change from high income groups to mid-income groups so that the revenue of the company increases from $22 billion to $25 billion within 2022 (Starbucks.com, 2018).
The process strategy need to focus on the sustainability of the environment so that the process used for manufacturing of the product does not cause any harm to the environment. As stated by Todorova (2015) sustainability is an important factor for a company as it helps in identifying the responsibility it has towards the society and its environment. In the case of Starbucks, the business function of the company goes through a process that complies with the needs of the employees.
The manufacturing of the coffee is done by taking into account the best coffee beans available in the field and putting it in good use (Öztamur & Karakad?lar, 2014). At the same time, the service process followed by Starbucks such as interaction with the customers provides Starbucks with the ability to satisfy the target market (Starbucks.com, 2018). Starbucks need to ensure that a simple process is followed so that sustainability is maintained and at the same time, the customers get their desired order. This can be done by analysing the market as well as capabilities of a company.
According to Palmer, Simmons and Mason (2014), the market share of a company defines its stronghold in the business market. In the case of Starbucks, it has been seen that the market share of the company after comparing it with the food and restaurants that are available worldwide is $44.503 million (Starbucks.com, 2018).
Starbucks is second only to McDonald’s that has a market share of $126.044 in the world. This indicates the dominance Starbucks in the food and restaurant business. In terms of comparison between the market shares among coffee shops, Starbucks enjoy a healthy lead with a market share of 39.8% of the total coffee selling industry as in 2018 (Starbucks.com, 2018).
Kanagal (2015) is of the opinion that sales volume denotes the success rate of a company and the manner in which revenue can be earned with the number of sales. In the case of Starbucks, the sales volume of the company has been at a continuous growth since its inception. The statistics between 2014-2016 suggest that the growth of Starbucks has been more as compared with the restaurant industry in general. At the same time, with the development of mobile applications, Starbucks have managed a sale volume at 600 units per day. This denotes the growth and popularity of the company in the competitive market (Starbucks.com, 2018).
As stated by Hisrich and Ramadani (2017) brand awareness provides an idea about the popularity of a particular company or product in the market and the manner in which people recognise a brand from a particular product. It has been seen that Starbucks is popular mainly for its coffee and that people are aware of the brand mainly due to the supply of its primary product. At the same time, the logo of the company is also well known to the people and this provides an advantage for Starbucks to be competitive in the market (Starbucks.com, 2018).
The profitability of a company can be determined by the amount of revenue that is earned by a company. The net income of Starbucks is estimated at $2.885 billion (Starbucks.com, 2018). This indicates that the company suffers from profit and this mainly due to the satisfaction level that is attained by the customers. The existence of subsidiaries as well as mobile applications has helped Starbucks to reach customers all over the world. At the same time, the assets of the company can be valued at $14.66 billion that signifies the rise of profitability of the company (Starbucks.com, 2018). The market share of the company indicates that Starbucks is one of the dominant companies in the world.
The customer satisfaction of the company is based on the amount of revenue that the company can earn. As stated by Song et al. (2018) the satisfaction of the customers are based on the quality of products and services provided by a company. Starbucks tend to provide good quality coffee to its target customers and this help the company to provide satisfaction to the customers. This can be considered as a reason for the high popularity of the company. However, statistics show that Dunkin Donut has the maximum number of customers satisfied. Starbucks comes second in terms of customer satisfaction at 87.1% to the 87.3% achieved by Dunkin Donuts (Starbucks.com, 2018).
Conclusion
After the analysis, it can be concluded that the popularity of Starbucks is mostly due to the brand of coffee it serves to the people. The marketing strategies of the company can help it to maintain its business in the international as well as the local market. The profitability of the company along with its revenue provides Starbucks with an advantage over its competitors. The analysis also shows that Starbucks is second in terms of market share among food companies and second in terms of customer satisfaction. Hence, Starbucks need to improve its position in the market.
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