You walk in to your neighbourhood coffee shop, order an espresso and then take a seat on one of the more rustic table and chairs. In the background you hear the local band tuning their instruments, getting ready to play the second set of the night. You look around and inhale the smell of coffee and wine while you sit back and sip your unbranded “non –cooperation” “non-conforming coffee”. You close your eyes and think how happy you are that you’re money is going to your local coffee shop, rather than a soulless giant organisation like Starbucks. It’s everything that makes independent coffee shops so great, what gives them a heart, a community spirit an anti-Starbucks feeling. It’s a place where you want to get away from the big crowds and away from corporate giants, where you’re not just another number.
Well I hate to break it to you but that hip and trendy shop, named after your street, is none other than a Starbucks in disguise! Yes boys and girls, Starbucks have taken stealth marketing to a whole new level with the creation of stealth stores.
After Starbucks saw a serious decline in profits, they began experimenting with new coffee shops that ditched their brand altogether. The brand (or should I say the Brand less) now are favouring community environment; Starbucks claimed the revamp was meant to give the stores “a community personality.” These new stores now have live music, wine and beer on sale and espressos that are manually made.
The brand name is gone, the cups have the street name on them and the traditional layout had been ditched by a super hip “indie” look. The stealth store initiative is to recreate the atmosphere and feeling that independent neighbourhood coffeehouses had before Starbucks came to town.
Stealth marketing has swept the marketing world but the coffee giants Starbucks have really taken the idea to new heights. The innovative idea being to match each of the stores aesthetics to specific neighbourhoods is an idea that if anything else is extremely interesting.
Now I know this idea is somewhat old but when I first heard about it when I was in the states, I knew I had to include it in my blog because it’s one of those bits of marketing nuggets that really makes you think about a brand.
Anyway here are some shots of the test stores, see what you make of the new “indie”-bucks:
I must applaud the company for their innovative idea, however; Can Starbucks lack some of the most basic tricks of the trade, ones that are adapted by smaller boutiques to keep customers?
If I had Starbucks as a client, I would make sure that before we would launch an expensive initiative (like the stealth stores) that in the regular stores, the smallest details of customer satisfaction are being tended too.
Take loyalty cards for example, although Starbucks have a gift card (which needs to be pre-loaded) they have missed a simplistic technique to keep patrons, a loyalty card. Customers are tightening their purse strings and with something as simple as “buy 9 get the 10th free” could sustain some of its business.
Also, Starbucks are under criticism for being a “heartless corporation.” Customer involvement could be utilised to target the problem. As far as I know Starbucks run very little competitions or events for the community, which could incentivise local customers to purchase from the store. Furthermore, they could even sponsor local events in the neighbourhood (something that has been successfully undertaken by other giant corporations).
Nowadays, Brands are also utilising social media and crowd sourcing for business. Starbucks could bring out new coffee ranges and invite customers to vote online for their favourite or they could ask customers to create a new signature coffee, like if I won I would create a “Mocha-Seanie-Triple-Shot-Latte.”
The key here is customer involvement. If they feel like they are part of a company they are more likely to repeat business. Also, these competitions would continually navigate people to the website and allow Star Bucks to create mailing lists. Often the simplest tricks are most effective and ones that I would urge Starbucks to undertake.