As I enter 2nd year of university, I finally understand more about marketing. Since young, I’ve only thought of marketing as television advertisements. Being in Commerce 296 Marketing course has changed my thinking. Being exposed to other factors of marketing, I realized that marketing is not JUST about advertisements. It is about promoting value to customers. These values make up the marketing 4 Ps (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion).
Product: what is the product? Does it create value to satisfy customer?
Price: Is this what customers want to pay for the product? (value of product in terms of currency).
Place: Is it convenient to buy the product? (convenience will increase of value in the product in customer’s eyes).
Promotion: How is the marketer communicating with the potential buyers to remind them about the product?
http://www.logomaker.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Starbucks-Logo.png
Starbucks is one of the companies that I’ve always thought that they have very bad marketing. It is obvious that after learning about the 4 Ps, I realized that Starbucks’ marketing is very well planned and implemented. In fact, Starbuck’s marketing is brilliant. Although their product is not that much of a difference between other cafes, it is more well known. Let’s have a break down of their 4 Ps:
Product: Different types of coffee, pastries, and different types of tea.
Price: Relatively expensive compared to other places that sell coffee.
Place: It can be found almost EVERY few blocks.
Promotion: Their green logo on the cups reminds people of Starbucks. They have effective communication with their customers by offering discounts/buy-one-get-one-free offers/gift cards/GOLD card (VIP card).
As mentioned in one of the 4 Ps above, Starbuck’s prices are relatively high, but why is that? It is because of the value added. What added the value? It is the convenience. As analyzed before, Starbucks’ shops are EVERYWHERE. You can see Starbucks almost every 10 minutes as you walk down a street. Starbucks is so successful due to its convenience. Its convenience pulls up the price. Also, there are other effects of the prices on customers. Some customers are willing to pay high prices for the value. Some of them wants to pay high prices because high prices make it as if it is higher class coffee. And some consumers are paying high prices because of convenience (they don’t want to walk another block/drive another 5 minutes for cheaper coffee).
Like I said before, marketing is NOT JUST advertising. Many other factors are thrown into consideration.
Pictures/Information From:
http://www.logomaker.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Starbucks-Logo.png
Google map
Starbucks website