Month: October 2012

Starbucks opened its first store in Indian on Friday. The store is located in a historic building in southern Mumbai and is described as ‘the most elegant, beautiful, dynamic store’ by Howard Schultz, the chief executive of Starbucks.

As coffee houses are still a relatively new trend in India, there is no surprise that Starbucks have spent over six years studying the local market before making the decision to enter the industry. Market research not only helps reduce uncertainty, but also aids in decision-making. The study of consumer behavior and how Starbucks positioned itself is greatly reflected through the store.  As Starbucks’ coffee prices are relatively higher than other coffee shops, the target market is for people with moderately high income. Starbucks is located not far from a vast Hermes shop and a stately local park. By locating Starbucks near high-end stores, it can attract customers that can afford Starbucks despite the high prices.

Starbucks in India also provides points of difference from other existing coffee shops as the menu not only provides popular western pastries, but also includes local pastries such as Elaichi Mawa croissants and tandoori paneer rolls, in order to accommodate customer’s tastes preferences.

(Source: Starbucks opens first ‘shrine’ to coffee in tea-drinking India)

Kayla’s blog talks about how McDonald’s Canada Campaign “Our food. Your questions.” helps reinforce McDonald’s image as a fast food restaurant as it creates an opportunity for McDonald to rebut negative claims from customers and to reposition itself in the fast food industry. I agree with Kayla that the campaign is an advantage to the restaurant as it not only helps reassure consumers’ concerns about the food products, but also builds a connection with its consumers. With having the presence of E. Coli in beef few months ago, consumers could easily express their concerns about the beef used in McDonalds by asking questions through the campaign. The campaign efficiently reassured consumers that the beef was safe to eat, thus preventing consumers of being undecided with the product quality when buying the burger the next time.

With having a 10-member “social media response team” to answer consumer’s questions through text, photos and videos in the campaign, it reflects that McDonalds values consumers’ concerns highly and works its best to provide a clear and precise response. I was reviewing some of the questions and responses on McDonald’s website, and the video below was a response to one of the questions “Does your Egg McMuffin use real eggs? They look too perfect” on the campaign. Enjoy!

Video: Real Egg Crackdown

(Source: Kayla’s Blog Post, McDonald’s Webpage)

The world’s largest beverage company Coca-Cola introduced its new product, Dasani Drops in early September. The Dasani Drops are liquids that can be squeezed into water in order to create a fruity flavor.

Even though Coca-Cola is not the first to come out with flavor drops, the company still seeks big potential for growth with Dasani Drops. Referring to the company’s SWOT analysis, I believe that the S-O strategies will allow the Dasani Drops to become successful in the market. Coca-Cola’s strengths is that the company has a very strong brand name and a good reputation among customers; therefore as it introduces Dasani Drops, reaching out for customers will certainly not be a problem for them. Also, with having a great turnout for Kraft Food Inc’s MiO, the first company that sold flavor drops for their product, Coca-Cola will be guaranteed that the drops will be popular in the market. As healthy living is becoming a trend in the market, it creates an opportunity for Coca-Cola to introduce zero calories Dasani Drops, as well as packaging them into small containers for consumer’s convenience. Even though Coca-Cola is not the first to position flavor drops in the market, the S-O strategies shows that Coca-Cola has the potential to succeed with its new Dasani Drops.

Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Coca+Cola+unveils+marketing+move+Things+better+with+drops/7207485/story.html

A Google-inspired commuter bus club, Pacific Commuter was launched by two metro Vancouver tech workers. The purpose of launching a commuter bus club is to help employees to turn their commuting time into working hours, so that they will have more time to spend with their families. The deluxe coach includes coffee services, wireless Internet, leather seats and marble topped tables, which is to create a luxurious experience for commuters.

The kind of services that Pacific Commuter provides is very unique. It relates to our class on ‘Positioning and Value Propositions’ as the company has clearly displayed its perception approach and target market. Pacific Commuter defined a problem of people spending too much time on commuting leading to not having enough time with family. Therefore, it provided a solution that not only allow people to make better use of commuting time, as well as creating an incentive as some companies even allow employees to take Fridays off if he/she works during his commute. Pacific Commuter targets people who drives, and can work as long as there’s computer and Internet connection. By identifying a smaller group of consumers, it is easier for Pacific Commuter to focus on and to provide the best facilities for its specific target market.

Video about the Pacific Commuter Club: Click Here

Source:  http://www.vancouversun.com/business/innovation/Google+inspired+commuter+hoping+lure+people+their+cars+with+luxury+mobile/6863938/story.html