MMIP: Marketing Management Strategy of Starbucks
Rebecca Tomes
Department of Marketing, Liberty University
BUSI 520: Strategic Marketing Management
Dr. Lorna DeShay
July 3, 2022
Q1. Provide a description of the product/service and a brief history of the firm.
Founded in 1971, Starbucks got its start within Seattle’s Pike Place Market, selling
roasted coffee beans, tea and spices to customers. In 1982, Howard Schultz joined Starbucks as
director of retail operations and marketing, and Starbucks began providing coffee to fine
restaurants and espresso bars. The next year, Schultz traveled to Italy and gained inspiration from
the popularity of espresso bars in Milan, deciding to create something similar with Starbucks in
Seattle. This is when Starbucks entered its own coffeehouse era, serving up espressos and
inventing its trademark Caffe Latte. By its 25th year, Starbucks had expanded to over 1,000
locations, and two years later they incorporated their brand into grocery channels across the U.S.
In 2000, Starbucks opened stores in Australia, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates, now with over 3,500 locations. Ten years later, Starbucks took the
opportunity to delve into the digital world, offering savings for customers online and free
unlimited Wi-Fi. This was a brilliant move to gain the attention of students and telecommuters,
and Starbucks quickly became a go-to spot to work or study. In 2014, Starbucks partnered with
Arizona State University to create the Starbucks College Achievement Plan, offering Starbucks
workers the opportunity to complete a college degree through ASU’s online degree program. As
of today, there are over 25,000 Starbucks locations across the globe, stationed in all 50 U.S.
states and in every continent. (About Us: Starbucks Coffee Company, 2022)
Q2. Explain your current or possible global marketing efforts. (Ch. 3)
With the emergence of new markets, easier communication and stronger international
trade infrastructures, organizations across the globe are entering into a new era of marketing.
“Business-to-business marketing is becoming progressively significant for firms and economies
around the world, and increasingly relies on international marketing practices to deal with the
global challenges and opportunities.” (Leonidou & Hultman, 2019) Starbucks has certainly used
this change to the marketing landscape to its advantage. Within its first 30 years in the coffee
market, Starbucks had already acquired multiple locations in 6 different countries, indicating that
their higher-ups had a global mindset from the start. They have also incorporated a merchandise
tab on their website, thus conducting revenue from all across the globe. Knowing this, I would
determine Starbucks to be a global marketing company, meaning that they realize that “all world
markets (including the company’s own domestic market) are, in reality, a single market with
many different segments.” (Marshall & Johnston, 2019) As it stands, Starbucks is established in
every continent, however there are still ~30 countries that have yet to open a coffeehouse. If I
were to be the marketing manager for Starbucks, I would suggest focusing on these remaining
countries and continue to look at global goals – studying the economic information of nearby
countries, their culture, their business environment, political climate and legal landscape.
Q3. Explain the organization’s mission. Provide its mission statement or create one if
necessary. (Ch 3)
There are four key components to any mission statement that a company stands by: “the
organization’s vision, the values the organization will emphasize in achieving the vision, the
guiding principles describing the organization’s desired behavior, and the specific management
process best suited to achieve the vision.” (McDermott et al., 1996) According to their official
website, Starbucks exists “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one
neighborhood at a time.” (About Us: Starbucks Coffee Company, 2022) This mission statement
can be seen implemented first with their employees – Starbucks does its best to maintain a small
company culture in every location, placing an emphasis on employee camaraderie and rapport.
The next tier of this mission statement can be seen in how the employees treat and serve their
customers with a sense of personal importance. A clear example of this is the use of first names
by both the employees on their nametags and by the customers when ordering and retrieving
their drinks, and the ability for each customer to fully customize their drink with special flavor
shots and toppings. This can be identified as an example of one-to-one marketing.
Q4. Explain your competitive strategy. (Ch.3)
My competitive strategy would be to place a stronger emphasis on social media
marketing. As of now, Starbucks already has a wide reach on social media, with a combined
following of ~5 million over all platforms, including Tiktok and Instagram. The best thing a
company can do for their business over social media in the climate that exists today is to make
good use of TikToks and Reels to boost engagement and drive sales. I would also suggest
making much use of the Starbucks app, which harnesses engagement by offering rewards for
customers who use it often.
Q5. Conduct a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis for the
organization. (Ch.3)
Internal Factors →
External Factors
↓
Strengths (S)
● Wide reach (and growing)
● Strong brand image
● Good standards for quality
● Good retention rate
● Strong financial
performance
Weaknesses (W)
● Quite pricey
● Not very unique
products (compared to
other coffee chains)
● Past recalls of
products
Opportunities (O)
● Introducing new
products
● Partnerships with
other businesses
● Starting their own
coffee delivery
service (without
having to rely on
Grubhub, etc)
S/O Based Strategies
● Continue introducing new
products using social
media and partnerships
with influencers
● Look into starting a coffee
delivery service, possibly
within the Starbucks app
to make it easily accessible
for customers
W/O Based Strategies
● Introduce new
products at a lower
price
● Collaborate with other
businesses that offer
unique products
Threats (T)
● Competition with
other, possibly
cheaper coffee
brands
● Imitation by rivals
● The rising
popularity of
independent, local
coffeehouses over
big corporate
chains
S/T Based Strategies
● Prevent rival imitation by
using different or new
products that aren’t easily
accessible to the public
● Provide coffee products at
different price ranges to
appeal to people of
different backgrounds
W/T Based Strategies
● Revamp the look of
new locations to offer
a smaller, warmer and
more “local” feel
● Outsource different
products to use in
drinks that aren’t
readily accessible to
companies that might
want to imitate
Starbucks
Sources Cited
About Us: Starbucks Coffee Company. Retrieved July 3, 2022, from
https://www.starbucks.com/about-us/
Leonidou, C. N., & Hultman, M. (2019). Global Marketing in business-to-business
contexts: Challenges, developments, and opportunities. Industrial Marketing
Management, 78, 102–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2018.04.016
Marshall, G. W., & Johnston, M. W. (2019). Marketing Foundations: Global, Ethical,
Sustainable. In Marketing Management (p. 27). essay, McGraw-Hill Education.
McDermott, D. R., Urban, D. J., & O'Hallaron, R. D. (1996). Developing and managing a
mission statement: A Study of Marketing Departments. Journal of Marketing Education,
18(1), 4–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/027347539601800103
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