Starbucks and Costa are two leading coffee companies in the world. In China, Starbucks is much more crowded than in Costa. It is also the same in other parts of the world.

Starbucks position itself as relaxing, high-quality and convenient. with a main market target of white-collar workers and youngsters. The coffee shop is nearly everywhere in the city which relates to its image of convenient and easy to buy. By publishing Starbucks music DVDs , it has not only reach a consistent branding, but also made a great consumer insight of their products. The CEO of Starbucks recently made some political announcements ( suggesting no guns in Starbucks ) which helped the giant company to enhance its friendly and laid-back image. However, compared with Costa, it gains less credibility in terms of its quality.

Costa mainly target on upper middle class people. It position itself as high-quality and  high-quality lifestyle. It differentiate itself from other coffees by “the perfect cup in four Ms”, which means freshly ground beans extracted by perfect machines and perfect skills. Costa obtains a better reputation for quality than Starbucks. However, its brand positioning is not that relevant to consumers nowadays especially when it expands to other markets out of Europe. People are now living in a fast pace, leading to their preference for more relaxed environment.

Financial Times: Costa tops table of coffee outlets

http://www.allegra.co.uk/pdf-files/2007-05-28-ft.pdf