...or marketing in tough economic conditions.
The introduction of Starbucks (Nasdaq:SBUX) new "Pikes Place Blend" is a good study in how to market in tough economic and competitive conditions.
If you haven't heard, Starbucks offered customers who come into their stores today the chance to try the new blend for free, handing out 8-ounce cups to whoever asks for them.
There are a couple dynamics working here, and Starbucks is wisely addressing both of them at once with this new initiative.
First, many of their former customers feel they've lost their way, and have abandoned the foundations that made them want to go to Starbucks in the first place.
Second, tough economic times require a different marketing strategy, and these two problems aren't that far apart and so can be intertwined in one campaign; and that's what Starbucks did here.
One major element of the way people think and act in difficult economic conditions is to retreat to the safety of the home; their trusted village of friends.
In other words, there's a sense of finding and gravitating toward your roots; the feeling of coziness with family and home.
So the idea of going back to their roots with the new "Pikes Place Blend" is a great move by Starbucks that deals with the perception they've moved from their roots, and consumers are looking to the comfort of family and home in the difficult economic conditions.
That's why reminding consumers they are mindful of where they came from and what got them there, and doing it through a new brew that consumers can taste and partake in, is an excellent strategy to make them feel like they've come back to something familiar and that they can trust.
As mentioned here, the question is whether they waited too long to implement this strategy, as far as competitors already winning the hearts and minds of their former customers.
The other problem Starbucks has, is in difficult economic times, people also look for price cuts more than anything else, so the rewards program, which would work well in normal economic conditions, may not do much during difficult times.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the strategy by Starbucks here, and is one all marketers need to think of during these difficult times.
What remains to be seen is if Starbucks competitors like McDonalds (NYSE:MCD) and Dunkin' Donuts have already provided for the customers that left Starbucks for them, the same thing, which would make it almost impossible to make inroads into during these times.
Even so, this is what Starbucks needed to do, and they need to continue hitting consumers with the idea of hearth-and-home over the next couple years. So do the rest of us.
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