Good operational moves and message by Starbucks. They still have a large footprint. If they deliver on the execution of the food and position it as a value, they have shot.
But I have to ask, "what coffee pipe are they smoking?" The chain is staying with its tactic of long-form newspaper ads in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today to support this push?
The majority of their customers read those news sources on-line, not in print. Sure those publications still have a circulation and Starbucks will get exposure from them. But isn't Starbucks interested in maintaining some semblance of relevance with their core customer?
Do they not see all the people in Starbucks comfy chairs sucking up the free wi-fi and flipping through their smart phones?
Perhaps this report was missing details to the planned campaign. If the roll out just consists of long form print ads in newspapers, all anyone can say is, "WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE!"
In the same way that it would have been much better to have gotten food right a few years ago when people were knocking down their doors for their coffee, so too would it have been better to fix their approach to selecting appropriate media.
Success breeds complacency. The "we'll get to it when we need to," always bites you in the ass. Starbucks is playing catch up, but they're still living in the past.
McDonald's is rolling out more premium coffee, Dunkin' is pushing out beyond their core markets, Starbucks is left with no choice, this has to work for them.
The previous comment by Starbucks' Chief Marketing Officer, Terry Davenport, arguing that, "the exposure McDonald's is bringing to the category will bring new consumers and Starbucks should be able to snare them when they have more cash to spare," can only ring true if Starbucks is relevant enough to warrant the premium when they have the extra money.
McDonald's has significantly more locations, especially with Starbucks closing stores, and a better price. What McDonald's doesn't have is the ambiance and the relevancy with the core Starbucks customer
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