Comments on: Starbucks VIA instant coffee taste test http://brandsential.com/2009/10/06/starbucks-via-instant-coffee-taste-test/ Brandsential- Bringing innovation and customer insight to build successful brands Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:23:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: malcolm http://brandsential.com/2009/10/06/starbucks-via-instant-coffee-taste-test/comment-page-1/#comment-86 malcolm Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:30:54 +0000 http://brandsential.com/?p=161#comment-86 Starbucks for a while became an aspirational brand. Premium coffee is, after all, a lifestyle purchase. The ability to buy a $5 coffee became a simple means of instant admission to the 'in' crowd of internet-bubble 'Long Now' nouveau-stock-option-riche post yuppies. sigh. that was so long ago. as evidenced by this latest evidence that somehow starbucks thinks that they were somehow, the whole time, selling coffee, and that reigniting their success means finding a way back to 'their' roots. Hey Starbucks, wake up. you gave us a place to camp and look cool. you were a real estate play with appropriate locations and refreshments. if you want to reignite your success, find a way to make hanging out there say something positive about our current self-image of unemployed losers who really can't afford a $5 chai every morning if it means the kids can't go to dance class. I can see how someone in product development somewhere in there seems to think that if instant coffee sales go up during a depression..uh, recession, that you need a brand bridge through that till things lighten up again. This is strategically a lose for one simple reason: it's all about you. make it about us again, or die. Starbucks for a while became an aspirational brand. Premium coffee is, after all, a lifestyle purchase. The ability to buy a $5 coffee became a simple means of instant admission to the ‘in’ crowd of internet-bubble ‘Long Now’ nouveau-stock-option-riche post yuppies.

sigh. that was so long ago. as evidenced by this latest evidence that somehow starbucks thinks that they were somehow, the whole time, selling coffee, and that reigniting their success means finding a way back to ‘their’ roots.

Hey Starbucks, wake up. you gave us a place to camp and look cool. you were a real estate play with appropriate locations and refreshments. if you want to reignite your success, find a way to make hanging out there say something positive about our current self-image of unemployed losers who really can’t afford a $5 chai every morning if it means the kids can’t go to dance class.

I can see how someone in product development somewhere in there seems to think that if instant coffee sales go up during a depression..uh, recession, that you need a brand bridge through that till things lighten up again. This is strategically a lose for one simple reason: it’s all about you.

make it about us again, or die.

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