The Starbucks Mug
I went to Starbucks the other day to meet up with someone when i caught a glance at someone holding one of the Starbucks mug; now i don’t usually pay attention but today i particularly realized how Starbucks uses these mugs to market their brand. When you think about it, without the mugs, Starbucks would be lacking in a vital marketing tool that does so many things. The mug with the brand name written on the side, lets everyone know where you get your coffee, it looks “cool”, it gives the consumer a sense of belonging, and the whole fact that as you order your coffee you use YOUR mug, it desensitizes the whole transaction process and makes it seem like more a NECESSITY than a want, which it is, because at 10 bucks a coffee every day, you’d be saving a lot of money not going to Starbucks! So yeah, i thought it was pretty ingenious that that mug had such a profound marketing effect on Starbucks consumers. Although of course i could proceed to actual surveys to figure out whether all this is true, but thats outside my time table X)