Whether or not you like Starbucks (it seems to evoke very strong feelings one way or the other), there's something to be learned from its comeback. It has quadrupled its earnings this quarter compared to last year. Here's part of a report in the Seattle Weekly on how CEO Howard Schultz did it:
"By inventing the local coffee house - creating what will from here on out be called, oh, let's say, the neighborhood mom and pop place.
"He clearly has a knack for deep-thinking creativity. Sitting in one of his new cafes, such as the unchained 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea house on Capitol Hill, he talks about "the authenticity of the coffee experience" and "the romance, the theater of bringing that to life."
To overcome the market over-saturation he created by opening a new store every eight hours, "We went back to start-up mode," he says, "hand-to-hand combat every day."
His stores now have communal tables, small-batch beans, local bakery goods, second-hand decorations, and - good lord - whole milk. Customers can even take home the coffee grounds and sow their gardens.
He is "reinventing" coffee, says one expert. He is tailoring his places so they, get this, fit in with the neighborhood!"
Again, whether you think this tactic is a brilliant marketing move or an attempt to fool customers (or both), it's a great lesson in reinvention--in listening to what your customers or clients want and giving it to them. I wonder what the publishing version of this would be?
(Writers need to be good at marketing, too. You can get lots of ideas from my two books: "Marketing for Entrepreneurs" (Pearson) and "Do Something Different" (Virgin). Available from the usual sources!)
