Starbucks Marketing Plan - Essay Example

Starbucks Marketing Plan Introduction For any business to prosper and make a profit, choosing a marketing strategy that will enhance the growth of the business should be done carefully in order to ensure that satisfactory results are achieved. Such factors that might affect decisions made include internal and external factors of the business. In this essay, focus will be shifted towards Starbucks, a successful coffee industry. Question 1 External factors that influence the changes in Starbucks marketing strategy are political, economic, technological, and social-cultural.

There is slow economic growth because of certain crisis like income and loans. Since coffee is not a necessity, the consumer price index is slow in terms of increase. Again, since coffee is a luxury, it has become beneficial to the industry as those socially capable can afford. Raw material prices have increased, so has the labor cost and transportation cost. Politically, certain laws have been formulated to increase tax. Technology has helped the industry a brilliant lot since its arrival. Machines take on manual labor; thus, there is a decrease in costs (Lamb, Charles, Joseph and Carl, 260).

Question 2 The main components of Starbucks marketing mix include segmentation, targeting and positioning. Using these three, strategic decisions will be made that will target the much needed potential and current customers. These strategies should be able to provide both product and customer service that will be unique from competitors (Lamb, Charles, Joseph and Carl, 267). Question 3 Factors include; Strategic marketing plan, suitable positioning of the business environment, variety and professionally exceptional service (Lamb, Charles, Joseph and Carl, 268).

Question 4 The main factors are competition, unstable and changing economy, which materially influences pricing; a hugely significant factor (Lamb, Charles, Joseph and Carl, 268). Question 5 Benefits include customer satisfaction, which leads to royalty. It is more environmental friendly, and in terms of the economic returns, profits are more than losses. Some of the costs incurred include manufacturing, packing, branding and delivery (Lamb, Charles, Joseph and Carl, 269). Question 6 In business, successful selling and buying in order to attain the required profits does not necessarily mean that an industry should have more branches.

Starbucks decision to close some of the stores and open up few ones is a decision that will bring about more concentration. The fewer the branches, the more the controlling power and thus the more the profits. With this, managing is much more comfortable (Lamb, Charles, Joseph and Carl, 270). Conclusion Choosing the perfect marketing strategy for products is mandatory if an industry is to make an impact in this hard global economic market (Lamb, Charles, Joseph and Carl, 292). Works Cited Lamb, Charles W, Joseph F.

Hair, and Carl D. McDaniel. Essentials of Marketing. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.