Starbucks Set Ways For Word Of Mouth Advertising
A little over five years ago I was a Starbucks barista, still living at home and loving my job. Before working at Starbucks there were very little things that I knew about their company, other than I was addicted to their Lattes and Frappuccino’s.
As I sit here five years later, now working through my blog, promoting other brands and products that my family enjoys, my mind constantly jumps back to the things I learned about the Starbucks history while working there.
Word of mouth marketing…
A lot people don’t know about the history of Starbucks and how they became a brand that has branched out to a 1.4 billion dollar company.
Starbucks started out with 1 little mom and pop shop in Seattle over 30 years ago, when it came to marketing they did not go with the conventional means of advertising, instead they developed an unconventional marketing strategy that blended well with the concept that they wanted to convey.
How many times have you driven down the road and seen a billboard for a Starbucks Latte? How about ad spaces in magazines, newspapers or any place that you would expect to see an advertisement.
When Starbucks started over 30 + years ago, they never placed an ad in newspapers, never placed billboards out on the road, advertising was not done the way that most companies are now doing.
Starbucks created a unique experience for their customers, wanted to give them a place where they could call it their “3rd home”.
Starbucks empowers the meaning of customer service, they know who their customers are and strive to make sure no customer walks out of Starbucks with a bad experience.
Sure, Starbucks is expensive and people keep coming back for more. Why? Because they build a high quality product and work hard to bring you the “Perfect cup of coffee” each and every time.
The experience, service and product that Starbucks brought you was something that made you happy, made you talk about it and it was you that helped make Starbucks who they are. All it took was a few people who stopped in for a cup of coffee, had a unique experience and spread the word to friends and family..
Word of mouth marketing is such a powerful thing.. Word of mouth can move mountains and can make or break a business.
Word of mouth is you, Word of mouth is me. It’s encouraging to see that businesses are starting to see that the success of their company doesn’t come solely within them, it comes from us.
Did you know the story behind the history of Starbucks?
Have you seen other small businesses bloom into something amazing all from word of mouth?
Great post Amanda – thanks for sharing. When you have your customers giving a good review or sharing the product with someone else, it sells itself. My business started using OpinionAmp as a proactive way to use real customer reviews to market our product online. Once you put it in the hands of your clients, they’ll sell the product for you. You can’t beat online positive reviews – no better advertising content than a happy client!
I did not know that about Starbucks! I do agree with it being expensive but yummy! It’s a nice one in awhile treat for me! I enjoy that you can get most anything made light as well!
I didn’t know the history, nor had I thought much about their lack of conventional marketing. I guess they were ahead of their time. But more importantly, they have a great sustainable product!
Excellent article, Amanda! I didn’t know that about Starbucks, but what a great example! This is something all bloggers should read – so many times, it feels that bloggers let companies take advantage of us and that shouldn’t happen. We ARE powerful!
Thanks!
Wow, I didn’t know all of that about their history! Sounds like a great quality company which is hard to find these days.