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BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT

Starbucks Coffee’s Marketing Mix (4Ps)

Analysis
UPDATED JAN 31, 2017 | ROBERTA GREENSPAN

Starbucks Coffee Company’s marketing

mix (4Ps) supports the company’s
industry position as the leading
coffeehouse chain in the world. The
marketing mix identi es the main
components of the rm’s marketing plan.
Starbucks uses its marketing mix as a way
of developing its brand image and
popularity. With the strongest brand in
A Starbucks café in Warsaw, Poland. Starbucks Coffee’s
marketing mix (4Ps) equally emphasizes product, place, the industry, the company shows how an
promotion and price to support the company’s brand image effective marketing mix supports brand
and competitive advantage. (Photo: Public Domain)
development and business growth.
Starbucks also changes its marketing mix
over time, thereby emphasizing the need for the business to evolve its various aspects to
maintain competitiveness.

Starbucks Coffee’s marketing mix (4Ps) indicates the importance of this marketing tool as a
way of ensuring that the rm promotes the right products at the right prices and places.

Starbucks Coffee’s Products

Starbucks continues to innovate its product mix to capture more of the market. This
component of the marketing mix focuses on what the business offers to customers. At
present, the following are the main categories of Starbucks products:

1. Coffee
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3. Pastries
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4. Frappuccino beverages
5. Smoothies
6. Merchandise (mugs, instant coffee, etc.)

This product mix is a result of years of business innovation. For instance, Starbucks
added the Frappuccino line after it acquired The Coffee Connection in 1994. The
company also has an ongoing product innovation process that aims to offer new
products to attract and keep more customers. Thus, this part of Starbucks’ marketing
mix involves beverages, food, and merchandise.

Place in Starbucks Coffee’s Marketing Mix

The company offers most of its products through Starbucks cafés. This component of
the marketing mix determines the venues at which customers can access the products.
In Starbucks Coffee’s case, the following are the main places used for the distribution of
products:

1. Cafés
2. Online Store
3. Starbucks App
4. Retailers

Originally, the rm sold its products through Starbucks cafés. Through the Internet, the
company now offers some of its products through the online Starbucks Store. Also, the
rm now sells some merchandise through retailers. In addition, the company uses the
Starbucks App to allow customers to place their orders. This part of Starbucks’
marketing mix shows how the rm adapts to changing times, technologies, and market
conditions.

Starbucks Coffee’s Promotions

Starbucks promotes its products mainly through advertising. This component of the
marketing mix refers to the communication strategies used to disseminate information
about the rm and its products. Starbucks’ promotional mix is as follows:

1. Advertising
2. Public relations
3. Sales promotions

The company advertises its products through television, print media and the Internet.
The company infrequently uses public relations, which has not always been successful
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for the business. For example, Starbucks’ Race Together public relations campaign was
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widely criticized. In addition, the rm uses sales promotions, such as the Starbucks Card
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that customers can use to get freebies. This part of Starbucks’ marketing mix shows the
core signi cance of advertising, and the supporting roles of public relations and sales
promotions for the company.

Starbucks Coffee’s Prices and Pricing Strategy

Starbucks uses a premium pricing strategy. This pricing strategy takes advantage of the
behavioral tendency of people to purchase more expensive products on the basis of the
perceived correlation between high price and high value. The company’s coffee products
are more expensive than most competing products, such as McDonald’s Premium Roast.
Through this pricing strategy, the company maintains its high-end specialty image. This
part of Starbucks Coffee’s marketing mix directly relates with the rm’s generic strategy,
thereby helping the business maintain its premium brand image.

References

A Letter from Howard Schultz to Starbucks Partners Regarding Race Together.

Hanssens, D. M., Pauwels, K. H., Srinivasan, S., Vanhuele, M., & Yildirim, G. (2014).
Consumer attitude metrics for guiding marketing mix decisions. Marketing
Science, 33(4), 534-550.
My Starbucks Rewards.
Rahmani, K., Emamisaleh, K., & Yadegari, R. (2015). Quality Function Deployment and
New Product Development with a focus on Marketing Mix 4P model. Asian Journal of
Research in Marketing, 4(2), 98-108.
Starbucks Store.
Van Waterschoot, W., & Van den Bulte, C. (1992). The 4P classi cation of the
marketing mix revisited. The Journal of Marketing, 83-93.
Yun-sheng, W. (2001). Perfection and innovation of 4P Marketing Mix – How to
evaluate 4P Marketing Mix. Commercial Research, 5, 6.

TAGS:
CASE STUDY & CASE ANALYSIS, MARKETING, MARKETING MIX (4PS), STARBUCKS COFFEE, STRATEGY

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