International Marketing Study Program 2002
Starbucks, Seattle, USA
24 January 2002
Starbucks Corporation is passionate about two things; coffee and its employees. Together these two elements have created the success and recognition of the Starbucks' brand.
Howard Schultz developed Starbucks from a visit to Italy where he realised there was a niche in the market for a lifestyle café. Since its first store in Seattle, Starbucks has grown to over 5000 stores worldwide in 24 markets, such as Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and North America. The corporation is constantly growing and opens 1200 stores yearly, that's about 4-5 stores a day! Over 16 million customers participate in the Starbucks' experience worldwide per week. Starbucks is one of the world's top 100 most valuable global brands and was named in Fortune magazine as one of the best companies to work for in America.
Starbucks strive to provide a great working atmosphere, ensuring its commitment to social responsibility and the environment and educating customers about its quality products and the Starbucks' experience.
We were fortunate enough to have the presence of Peter Maslin, one of Starbucks' Vice-Presidents, and a fellow Australian, who shared his experience and knowledge with us on the philosophy of Starbucks organization, how they have got to their current level of success, and where they plan to head strategically in the future - it was a fascinating presentation. We were also fortunate enough to receive excellent presentations from Soon Beng Yeap, as well as Leslie and Kathy on the company culture, international marketing and social responsibility respectively.
We even had a coffee tasting session with yummy chocolates (much to our delight!) to enhance the taste. We were even taught the art of coffee tasting by sniffing then slurping (sorry mum!!) the plain black coffee to experience the full-bodied aroma and taste.
The session brought a level of understanding of Starbucks and its coffee culture to greater heights and we all enjoyed the entertaining, informative and yummy presentation.
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