What Makes Starbucks?

In the 1998 romantic-comedy ‘You’ve Got Mail’, Joe Fox, the character played by Tom Hanks says,

“The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don’t know what the hell they’re doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino.”

This sums up the Starbucks story of product differentiation perfectly. From a store in Seattle in 1971 to over 21,160 stores in 63 countries and territories, Starbucks has revamped the coffee drinking culture. While Starbucks offers innumerable options ranging from Blonde Roast to Hazelnut Macchiato to Salted Caramel Mocha, it also offers the unique proposition of altering drinks according to the wishes of customers, no matter how detailed they are. Right from serving an espresso within 23 seconds of brewing to offering options of skim milk and both natural and artificial sweeteners, Starbucks adheres to stringent guidelines and provides high quality products. By terming their employees, ‘partners’ offering them shares in the company and providing even part-time workers with insurance benefits, they have managed to keep their workers happy and passionate. The coffeehouse style experience that Starbucks offers is one that customers enjoy and competitors try to emulate. Their coffeehouses are designed using modern, unique and sustainable materials, which invite customers to read, relax and simply chat with friends or even prospective clients! Providing a premium, unique coffee drinking experience that is consistent all over the world, Starbucks has rightly earned its position as the largest coffeehouse company in the world. This shows how important it is for brands to invest in and seriously work on differentiating themselves. In a world where competitive prices and identical products play havoc with customers’ emotions, what makes your product unique? What simple idea what drive you out of the horde and into the heat of attention? If you are yet to decide, a cup of Starbucks coffee might help. read more 

Good Lookin’ Takes All

The ad world’s been in a frenzy lately. Thanks to the Super Bowl and its $4.5 million spots, those in the big leagues are playing it hard and fast, with fingers crossed. How about the little guys? The guys who cannot afford the big screen or even the advantage, the big outdoor brings? You want small spaces and big rewards and if you happen to be in the FMCG industry, you are in luck. Enter Point-of-Purchase materials, your advocates at the very point of purchase. Very few people visit stores with a list in hand; most are impulsive buyers and even the best of planners will not be able to pass up on that gorgeous deal before their eyes.

According to the POPAI 2014 Mass Merchant Study, 82% of mass merchant purchase decisions are made in-store. The same study found that 62% of shoppers picked up items on impulse during their trip and 16% of unplanned purchases were driven by a display the shopper saw while shopping.
So how do you ensure that your material works? Keep it simple to read, catchy to look at, colorful and engaging. At this junction when the customer, product and the retailer meet, inspire attention, inspection and selection through differentiators and appealing designs. Make it seem exciting and rewarding to the consumer. A bit of whimsy or humor can go a long way, as can a bit of creativity and crafty placements. While candy, gum and magazines have survived for long on their placement near check-out counters, you can find placement that specifically works for your product. A wobbler for your new peeler at the vegetable and fruits section or a dangler for your new low-fat milk near the cereal section or a promotion stand for your new chocolate, right at the entrance of the store. This is the place of decision; no matter how much you advertise outside, this is where your consumer must make a choice. According to a 2005 Economist article, consumers spend no more than 6 seconds trying to find a preferred brand before they give up and settle for a substitute. POP materials are your way of ensuring that your loyalists don’t leave you and the opponents and undecided pick you. So, how are you planning on tackling the in-store battle for attention, today?

What Makes Starbucks?

What Makes Starbucks?

In the 1998 romantic-comedy ‘You’ve Got Mail’, Joe Fox, the character played by Tom Hanks says,

“The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don’t know what the hell they’re doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino.”

This sums up the Starbucks story of product differentiation perfectly. From a store in Seattle in 1971 to over 21,160 stores in 63 countries and territories, Starbucks has revamped the coffee drinking culture. While Starbucks offers innumerable options ranging from Blonde Roast to Hazelnut Macchiato to Salted Caramel Mocha, it also offers the unique proposition of altering drinks according to the wishes of customers, no matter how detailed they are. Right from serving an espresso within 23 seconds of brewing to offering options of skim milk and both natural and artificial sweeteners, Starbucks adheres to stringent guidelines and provides high quality products. Read more..

Dad Knows Best… (well, he tries to) This year, for Mother’s Day, American Greetings made a video, which celebrated Motherhood as the World’s Toughest Job. It went viral with more than 20 million views on Youtube and if fathers felt slighted or ignored, there’s good news for you! American Greetings has come up with a sequel and while it does not inspire the feeling that fatherhood might equally be tough, it conveys what it’s really all about. The video shows actors auditioning for the role of the father (it often appears as if Phil Dunphy from Modern Family is taken as the role model for the character) and what ensues is a sequence of hilarity. It shows how fathers appear clueless and comical when posing as the bad cop and are as confused about the process of child rearing as the child himself. Ultimately, when your child comes to you for real advice, there is no script to go on. It’s all about reaching from the heart, remembering what your parents told you and telling your child that you love them and are there for them, no matter when or what. While some fathers might feel that the video has underestimated their importance, it has definitely captured the father-child bond for what it is: playful, fun and confusing but a process of growing in love for both.

Dad Knows Best… (well, he tries to)

This year, for Mother’s Day, American Greetings made a video, which celebrated Motherhood as the World’s Toughest Job. It went viral with more than 20 million views on Youtube and if fathers felt slighted or ignored, there’s good news for you! American Greetings has come up with a sequel and while it does not inspire the feeling that fatherhood might equally be tough, it conveys what it’s really all about. The video shows actors auditioning for the role of the father (it often appears as if Phil Dunphy from Modern Family is taken as the role model for the character) and what ensues is a sequence of hilarity. It shows how fathers appear clueless and comical when posing as the bad cop and are as confused about the process of child rearing as the child himself. Ultimately, when your child comes to you for real advice, there is no script to go on. It’s all about reaching from the heart, remembering what your parents told you and telling your child that you love them and are there for them, no matter when or what. While some fathers might feel that the video has underestimated their importance, it has definitely captured the father-child bond for what it is: playful, fun and confusing but a process of growing in love for both.

Brands Have an Addiction and it’s very BAD!

Brands Have an Addiction and it’s very BAD!

There is a way you can make cash and lots of it quick. No, it’s not illegal; it’s just a brilliant idea that no one has thought of yet and one we will be needing in the near future. It’s an SMR center! We have rehabilitation centers for people with alcohol and drug addictions, so why not a Social Media Rehabilitation center? And before anybody else, brands will need to be treated first! Yes, social media took the world by storm and yes, brands would have lost their presence if they had not liked, tweeted, pinned, poked fast enough but what is happening to brands now? Most are going overboard with social media. They do not know when to start and stop and while they forget to respect boundaries, they also forget that people have free will to stop following them as soon as they get irritating. Brands have developed a bad addiction and nobody shows this in a more entertaining way than Tom Fishburne aka the Marketoonist. As with life in general, brands need to cultivate moderation in their social media attempts. Continue..

Pack a punch!

Pack a punch!

Imagine meeting someone for the first time. What is the first thing you notice about them? Personality? That takes time. Posture? Maybe. But the most obvious would be appearance and it definitely tells a lot about a person, right from whether they are carefree and wild spirited to serious and ambitious. With increasing rapidity, we keep telling ourselves that appearances are deceptive but the truth of the matter is that, in any situation, it is the first thing we have to go on. Which is why packaging plays a major role in selling. If you are walking down the aisle of your local supermarket, out of the hundreds of products stacked together, your eye will be drawn to that which it finds most alluring. Colors can give a lot away. Earthy shades denote organic while black and gold are shades of luxury while bright colors call out to children. Also, how sturdy and compact the packaging is, will create an impression of your brand. Take the example of Apple’s iPad. The packaging is clean, white, classic and minimalistic. You know it is dependable and the lack of flamboyance makes it more convincing. Continue Reading..

The Call of the ‘Millennial’: Can Your Brand Respond?

The Call of the ‘Millennial’: Can Your Brand Respond?

Change is inevitable, especially in these times, when you are marketing to a range of people whose interests keep evolving. There is a new set of people, soon coming to charge and unless, you buckle up and know who they are and what they want, your brand can be in hot waters. They are the ‘Millennials’ and here’s what you need to know about them:

Who are the ‘Millennials’?

They are the Generation Y, with birth years ranging from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. Now, before you pooh-pooh them as a bunch of selfie-obsessed, social media crazed brats, know this: In the United States alone, there are 74.3 million millennials with a purchasing power of $170 billion! Interested yet?

Why do they matter to me?

If you think your brand will survive another ten years, they matter to you because very soon, they will form the majority of your consumer pool. In surveys, at least 45% of them think that brands play an essential role in their lives and yet, most 16-24 year olds complain that brands don’t take them seriously. The thing about this bunch is that, they know more about marketing and about their value as customers. They know that their activities online, can make or break a brand and they are not afraid to wield the wand. continue reading...