Starbucks is on the road to disaster. They’re clearly experiencing a branding crisis and need to seriously reevaluate their identity. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, get back to basics, to what you initially offered the market that the public embraced wholeheartedly: quality coffee and an inviting space to mingle and meet. Get rid of the fluff, frills and distractions and ask yourselves why you’re losing business to Dunkin Donuts.
Their latest ingenious creation, VIA, is their way of turning something that is meant to be mass market and cheap into something expensive and elitist. Here’s hoping that the world will be smarter than they expect….
Below is one of their television spots for the instant coffee that just launched this week. Discuss.
yeeesshhh. bleh. i'm not a coffee drinker but that looks cheap and gross and like it defeats the point of drinking coffee. i think the french will definitely rebell!
anne
REBEL REBEL!
I agree. This is a larger version of a similar situation in Auburn: a store called "Out of the Box" has opened up, selling… cereal. They have taken something cheap and convenient that people ususally eat quickly at home… and expecting people to pay more and come to their store to eat it. It's not doing well.
I really can't understand why Starbucks is advertisting instant coffee, touting that it is as good as their fresh coffee… which really just makes their fresh coffee look bad!