Brands & Branding and Private Labels Case Study

Brand Starbucks (A) - Can the Brand be revitalised?

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Abstract:
Announcing the financial results of the second quarter for 2007, Starbucks reported that the same store sales in the US remained stagnant and that the traffic was almost flat, compared to the previous year. This announcement seemed to conflict with the massive expansion plans the company had made, and its future was uncertain. Howard Schultz, the architect of the Starbucks brand, had returned to the CEO position, and vowed to revitalise the brand. The reasons for the brand's decline need to be analysed before strategising a turnaround plan for the brand. The case facilitates discussion on the probable reasons for the decline in the Starbucks brand and allows students to formulate a revitalisation plan.

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To Starbucks' growth and expansion strategies.
• To reasons for the decline of Starbucks' brand value.
• To can the decline in Starbucks' brand value be arrested?.
• To strategies that sustain growth without sacrificing brand value, in an increasingly competitive market.

Keywords :  Marketing, Branding, Brand dilution, Starbucks, Brand Equity, Diversification, Expansion, Brand components, Retail, Speciality coffee store chain