Will The Real Starbucks Please Stand Up?
Over the spring and the summer I have noticed an interesting thing about the omnipresent Starbucks: that it was attempting to become more omnipresent. No, not by the obvious store expansion that has been (properly) mocked incessantly over the past few years. Instead, I have seen Starbucks present itself in a wider variety of ways that I have found, frankly, confusing. Let's start with the "
A new logo. A new color palate. All for the sake of "introducing coffee"? Isn't that what they've been doing for more than 30 years? Oh... it's for their DRIP coffee. Got it. Wasn't clear to me. And, more importantly, not relevant to me as I don't go there for their drip coffee (I do wonder what percent of their beverage-based store traffic is for drip vs. non-drip coffee drinks). So for me this equals confusion for me. And to boot, have you even been to one of those "mini-Starbucks" that they have in grocery stores, hotels, and the like? Well surprise, surprise... they won't be getting Pikes Place Roast for approximately one year post-launch. Not sure why but that is consistently what each and every outlet has told me when I have inquired.
Let's move on to Starbucks Chocolate. In March of this year, the Seattle-based company announced that it would enter the artisan-style chocolate market. What I find interesting about this decision is the packaging of the product. If only distributed in Starbucks stores, its packaging could almost be, one could argue, irrelevant. However, the chocolate will be distributed through a wide variety of retail outlets... not just its stores. As such, I find it curious that it has introduced yet another logo with visual elements (yes, the colors are similar). The Starbucks font and logo are both new with the product name (in the case of the image to the left, "Mocha Dark Chocolate") in some handwritten script-type font. No where is the known and loved standard Starbucks logo that lets the consumer know that this is a product by the company that gets you caffeinated very day. Yes, it does say the word STARBUCKS but imagine the likelihood of noticing a McDonalds outlet sans the Golden Arches. Not bloody likely, is it?
I found this at a local ABC store (government-run liquor store... yes, folks, it is 2008). To my surprise, Starbucks also has a liquor business. Actually, a liqueur business. But booze is booze if I have to but it in a government-run liquor store. And guess what? The same Starbucks name but another font, color palette, and logo treatment.
And most recently (as in the past month) Starbucks has introduced a line of drinks that appears to compete with smoothies; Vivanno. Building upon the apparent success of its Frappuccino® lines of blended frozen coffee drinks, Starbucks looks to compete with the likes of Jamba Juice and Smoothie King and capture market share in the fruit and juice base blended frozen drink market. Strategically, not a bad move at all. But yet another example of NEW visual identity that does nothing to build upon the equity in Starbucks' logo, color palate, and visual elements.
Starbucks has grown into one of the most successful and admired brands in the world in a relatively short amount of time. It has brought the beauty and charm of the Italian coffee culture to damn near everyone in the U.S. and beyond... with great success. The equity in the Starbucks name and green, white, and black Mermaid enhanced logo is enormous. So why does this successful company abandon its core visual elements and ignore its brand equity to launch what will no doubt be minor lines of business? If I were the product and brand manager of these lines, I would run screaming to embrace the tools of success- the logo and the color palate, and try to make them my own but staying true to their core.
Which one is Starbucks? Which one does it truly aspire to be? Anyone want to wager on the product lines' success?
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