In her blog Why Starbucks’ Customer Loyalty Is More Lucrative Than Any Ad Campaign, Sheila Shayon talked about how Starbucks is more than just a coffee shop. The brand value and power of Starbucks is so strong that it is seen by customers as more of a lifestyle.

Compared to most companies are putting in more effort on marketing and making connections with consumers through social media such as Facebook, Starbucks seems to be taking a more laid back approach. Despite not being as active in social media interactions, Starbucks is actually one of the most “liked” brand, and receives much more “likes” and comment on posts when compared to its competitors. I think that today, social media has become a benchmark of how relevant or how well liked a brand is in consumers’ life. Therefore Starbucks’ results definitely shows how well received the company is by the people.

While other companies such as McDoanlds entering the coffee market, I believe Starbucks is able to protect itself from competition through it’s sustainable competitive advantage of having very strong customer loyalty. Starbucks can also protect itself from price war going on in the coffee industry due to its differentiation and image of being more than just any other coffee chain.