Reflect and evaluate Brand Starbucks marketing principles Essay

Reflect and evaluate Brand Starbucks marketing principles - Essay Example Brands absorb everything around them like Imelda Marcos in the shoe department at Nordstrom† (quoted in Kalin, 2001). By this definition, customer service and the quality of the products are actually considered part of the brand. Strong brands help companies establish a place within the international and local marketplace (Aaker, 1996). They also help the company develop a strong consumer base through brand recognition. However, brands don't become strong without offering quality products and excellent customer service. This is because brands only become strong when they have a high number of loyal consumers. Loyal consumers are made by giving them products that they enjoy and appreciate and taking care of customers when they have complaints or problems. According to Childers, satisfied customers exponentially increase in number, resulting in greater profitability for the company (2005). To see how this works, it's helpful to apply these ideas to a company like Starbucks. Starb ucks is a well-known coffee company that specializes in serving ready-to-drink single-serve coffee and other drinks to a mostly middle and upper class clientele. This company now has a very strong brand which it has gained by focusing on quality products and excellent customer service. ... Each customer was treated as a regular, whether they were or not, with their name written on their cup and plenty of customization of their order available. Now that the company has cultivated a very strong consumer base, it relies more and more on its strong brand to continue driving growth. As part of this brand, it offers customized menus for each region based upon local and national favorites. All of these different menus are brought together under the one brand identified by a simple and universal logo. Even if the menu isn't the same as the menu back home, travelers to new places can feel at home as soon as they walk into a Starbucks store because of that logo and a relatively similar approach to decor. Examining this company and assuming I have correctly identified the marketing principles it considers to be most important, I believe Starbucks is doing a good job of following these principles. Having a strong global brand is important to success in the commercial world today, but Starbucks has not forgotten that it developed that brand by offering quality products and excellent customer service. It proves this by maintaining a focus on what the local market enjoys and expects. â€Å"Experience has shown that companies need not always create one-size-fits-all global brands just because the world appears to be shrinking. Indeed, firms should recognize that adapting brands to local conditions will on many occasions be the best approach, and at times the only approach, because local conditions will leave them no other choice† (Managing Brands, 2005). By adapting their brand to local conditions but insisting that everything sold in the similarly decorated coffee houses carries the