Speedy Starbucks has grown too fast

Citation

Ritson, M. (2007), "Speedy Starbucks has grown too fast", Strategic Direction, Vol. 23 No. 8. https://doi.org/10.1108/sd.2007.05623had.006

Speedy Starbucks has grown too fast

Speedy Starbucks has grown too fast

Ritson M Marketing, 28 February, 2007, Start page: 21, No, of pages: 1

Purpose – To comment on a letter by Starbucks’ chairman Howard Schultz criticizing the company for growing its global chain of coffee shops too quickly, thereby threatening to commoditize it. Design/methodology/approach – Traces Schultz’s career and explains why he is right. Findings – Schultz has written a damning indictment of the company’s marketing strategy over the past decade even though the company’s growth targets, share price and underlying sales are all relatively strong and its expansion into Asia is on track. Explains that if Schultz thinks that Starbucks is in danger of commoditizing its brand, everyone within that organization should pay immediate attention as he is almost certainly right. Remarks that the biggest threats to a strong brand are growth and success as they force a company to increase scale, become bureaucratic and generic, and focus increasingly on the financial imperatives, rather than those of its customers or its brand, until eventually the company loses its way in a snowstorm of its own creation. Originality/value – Contends that Schultz’s memo is the act of a true leader; one who recognizes that there is more to success than short-term sales, remembers the meaning of the brand, upholds this above all other things, and is prepared to take responsibility for the mistakes of the past in order to protect the brand that he loves.

Keywords: Growth, Marketing strategy, Starbucks Coffee