Starbucks Marketing Analysis

Starbucks first opened in Seattle in 1971 (Starbucks, 2014) and has grown from one store to 19,767 stores today.With over 160 thousand employees worldwide (Forbes, 2013) this company has become world famous and brings high quality coffee and beverages to its clients over the world daily.Their well-known mission statements is: to inspire and nurture the human spirit -one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.In the Unites States of America 54% of the population over 18 years of age drinks coffee daily and the total American drinking population spends 40 billion dollars on this beverage yearly (Harvard School of Public Health, 2014).According to the following statistics, there is large market potential in the world for this particular service and production; Starbucks along with many competitors, such as Costa Coffee or McCafe, have seized this opportunity and continue to innovate within this market.It is no doubt that this market can be profitable; in 2012 Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, was classified as the 8th best-paid CEO in the United States of America making 103 million dollars of profit (Rushe, 2013).Throughout this report, we will be looking at the marketing techniques Starbucks uses daily and identify the key techniques that bring them the competitive advantage.Firstly, we will analyse the current marketing strategy, look into detail at their branding, and explain how it brings value to the customer, discuss the ethical engagements and importance of CSR used, and lastly, analyse the relationship between marketing strategies.