Strengths, weaknesses, political trends, and environmental trends of Starbuck’s Corporation

Discuss about the Marketing plan for Starbuck’s Corporation.

Short description about the size of the market

During the research, it has been found that strengths, weaknesses, political trends, and environmental trends of Starbuck’s Corporation play an important role for impacting the innovative marketing plan for Bubble Tea (Harrington, Ottenbacher & Fauser, 2017). Starbucks is considered to be a global and massive organization that has various kinds of strengths associated with it. It is known to be a strong global organization and they have taken innovative initiatives within their organization. They have a range of diversified products which are of high quality and they have a loyal and strong customer base followed by loyal and passionate employees working in their organization.

Analysis of the customer or market requirements and changes or trends in the market

“Cola” was introduced as a soft drink in the year 1960 till then various kinds of beverages are being introduced in the market. Presently, it can be seen that the retailing of carbonated soft drinks have reduced to a great extent due to the fact that customers are becoming more health conscious and they are opting for much healthier alternatives that include sports drinks, milkshakes, and energy drinks. Hinterhuber (2015) found that the choice of the customers starts shifting towards healthier, sophisticated, and trendier products in the upcoming future.

Analysis related to the competitors

According to the research, it has been analyzed that Starbuck’s Corporation is trying to provide the value proposition that the majority of their competitors like Pepsi and Coke belongs to the soft drinks industries. It has been found that Coca-Cola is at the top of the list with a share of 43.7% in the market for soft drinks (Dorn, Messner & Wänke, 2016). The main competitors of Starbuck’s Corporation are Dunkin’ Doughnuts and McDonald’s provide the similar products but they are unable to provide a coffee house environment for the customers. The competitors have managed to develop value for the customers by maintaining a good quality of the product with the accurate price. After introducing Bubble Tea, Starbuck’s Corporation is surely going to overperform that its main competitors. 

Identification and analysis of the internal environmental factors and external environmental factors which brings impact on the marketing objectives of Starbucks

According to the environmental trends associated with Starbuck’s Corporation, it can be seen that the demand towards caffeine or coffee is quite inelastic within the industry. With the reduction in income or with the increase in prices of coffee, the potential consumers of coffee are going to remain uncertain for demanding alternatives to coffee (Snell et al., 2017). For that reason, the introduction of Bubble Tea can serve the best purpose to replace coffee. The regulatory or political environment plays a crucial role in the performance of Starbuck’s Corporation. Due to the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, it has been found thatStarbuck’s Corporation has struggled a lot to remain active in the competitive market (Garrette, Phelps & Sibony, 2018).

The decline of carbonated soft drinks industry and the shift towards healthier alternatives

Researchers have found that the social environment has also resulted in affecting the Starbuck’s Corporation. We are aware of the fact that drinking coffee is a soothing atmosphere is considered to be an art and since the 16^th century it has been found that there had been coffeehouses in several parts of Europe which tried to create a social gathering. Thus, it can be assumed that Bubble Tea is going to be a better alternative to coffee as it can be consumed by people of different ages. Haskova (2015) found that the technological trends are also playing a crucial role to bring impacts to Starbuck’s Corporation. It can be seen that the technology for preparing coffee has changed over the time and various kinds of espresso machines and brewing machines are being introduced in the market. These machines serve a great purpose to produce the best cup of coffee for all the customers (Martínez-Torres, Rodriguez-Piñero & Toral, 2015). The most interesting fact is that preparing of Bubble Tea is much easier as compared to the preparing of coffee and for that reason, there is no requirement of implementing innovative technologies for preparing Bubble Tea (Ottman, 2017). Thus, Bubble Tea can be introduced into the market easily by altering with coffee.

During the time of market segmentation, two different factors are going to be considered which includes target positioning and target marketing (Taecharungroj, 2017). Primarily, the research predicts that the target market for Starbuck’s Corporation is going to be all the people staying in New Zealand ranging from rich and poor as well as young and old. For that reason, Starbucks is required to utilize various kinds of targeted promotional mechanisms. Starbuck’s Corporation can utilize media sources for their promotion which includes television, magazines, public relations, internet, radio, publicity and personal selling.Harrington, Ottenbacher, and Fauser (2017) noted that television is going to be an expensive mode of advertisement for introducing Bubble Tea but on the other hand it has the capability to reach about 95% of the people staying in New Zealand.

The students studying in New Zealand listening to the radio with great interest and for that reason, Starbuck’s Corporation can use this mode for advertizing Bubble Tea which will be able to increase their customer base. Starbuck’s Corporation can plan to advertise this new product via magazines too as magazines are followed by the people of New Zealand belonging to different age groups (Mason, Cole & Goza, 2017). Based on the positioning strategy it is necessary for Starbuck’s Corporation to pack the Bubble Tea with different kinds of flavors, colorful straws, and eye-catching cups.

Comparison between Starbuck’s and its main competitors

The primary aim of the promotion strategy associated with Bubble Tea is that it is required to develop a strong awareness regarding Bubble Tea throughout the consumers of younger generations and also for the elderly people. The second objective of Starbuck’s Corporation is regarding achieving the market share of the competitors of soft drinks such as Pepsi and Coke. Since it has been found that Bubble Tea is a recent product that is going to be launched by Starbuck’s Corporation, for that reason it is necessary to advertise the product as much as possible (Akgun et al., 2017). Followed by this activity it is necessary to explain the benefits and usage of the product to the customers for enjoying the drink in a better manner. Finally, it has been found that Bubble Tea is considered to be a perfect drink for the customers as they can even drink before going to bed since this beverage is not going to hamper the sleep of the customers (Wu, 2017).

Starbuck’s Corporation is going to introduce a brand new product which is known as Bubble Tea and for that reason, it is quite essential to perform a successful marketing campaign related to this new product.

Product Decisions

During the time of developing product decisions related to product mix, it is quite necessary to consider two different factors which include product modification and brand personality. Brand personality is regarded as the features of any brand and thus for Bubble Tea, the brand personality is going to be tasty and cool. Dorn, Messner, and Wänke (2016) stated that according to the product modification, Bubble Tea is required to be packaged in an attractive manner because it is a new product which is going to be introduced in the market.

Pricing Decisions

Pricing is considered to be a crucial strategic factor which is directly associated with the product positioning. During the time of the price strategy, it is necessary to consider three individual factors which include consumer demands, potential substitutes, and product life-cycle. For selling Bubble Tea in New Zealand, it is required by Starbuck’s Corporation to examine all the price determinants in a careful manner. Hinterhuber (2015) found that there are about 20 Bubble Tea shops that are present in Auckland that those shops have gained much popularity in the previous years. Since Bubble Tea is a new product which is going to be introduced by Starbuck’s Corporation so the price of the product is going to be comparatively much higher than other Bubble Tea shops. It has been noticed that the average cost of a single cup of Bubble Tea is around $6.00 and thus Starbuck’s Corporation is required to fix the price of Bubble Tea around $5.85 for competing with the other competitors.

The inelastic demand for caffeine and coffee in the industry

Distribution or Place Decisions

Starbuck’s Corporation is going to introduce a brand new product in the market which is Bubble Tea and for that reason, they are required to distribute that product across all their branch shops in New Zealand for reaching out the people of the whole country (Wei, 2016).

Promotional Decisions

The essential aim of the promotional strategy related with Bubble Tea is that it is required to build up a solid awareness in regards to Bubble Tea all through the purchasers of more youthful ages and furthermore for the elderly individuals. The second target for Starbuck’s Corporation is with respect to accomplishing the piece of the overall industry over the contenders of soda pops, for example, Pepsi and Coke. Since it has been discovered that Bubble Tea is an ongoing item that will be propelled by Starbuck’s Corporation, thus it is important to advertise the item however much as could be expected (Hinterhuber, 2015). It is important to clarify the advantages and use of the item to the clients for getting a charge out of the savor a superior way. At long last, it has been discovered that Bubble Tea is thought to be an ideal drink for the clients as they can even drink before going to bed since this refreshment wouldn’t hamper the rest of the clients.

Integration and Link

Marketing is considered to be a business function that consists of product development and research, promotion or communication, distribution, merchandising, and pricing. The marketing mix consists of six different elements that are necessary to be considered by Starbuck’s Corporation for marketing well about Bubble Tea in New Zealand. The list of marketing mix elements is necessary to be considered by Starbuck’s Corporation includes advertising, personal selling, promotions and discounts, direct marketing, public relations, and event sponsorship (Kokemuller, 2018).

It is necessary to have a clear linkage among all the elements that are being chosen. The advertisement has got full control over the promotion of any new product like Bubble Tea in the market as the message are delivered to the customers in an easy manner. Personal selling is associated with the direct marketing and is required to be performed well followed by providing discounts on the new product which is being introduced in the market. Direct marketing includes personal selling and sales promotion which is also required to done well followed by maintaining a better public relation (Kiseleva, 2017). Finally, after launching Bubble Tea by Starbuck’s Corporation they are required to perform event sponsorship where they are going to pay for the entertainment or sports events for promoting their new product.

According to the overall research, it can be seen that the coordination and control are quite simple for Starbuck’s Corporation as they are concentrating to introduce a new product in the market of beverages. The marketing method can be controlled and coordinated in an easy manner by Starbuck’s Corporation due to the fact that the management team of the organization is much familiar with the introduction of new product in the marketplace (Wensley, 2016).

References

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Garrette, B., Phelps, C., & Sibony, O. (2018). Structure of the Problem: Analytical Frameworks. In Cracked it! (pp. 95-116). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

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