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A couple of nights ago, my wife, Jennifer, and I were on a date at our local Starbucks. We often go there to relax, have a great cup of coffee, and talk about life. We talk about raising our kids. We talk about our marriage. We talk about the typical issues that are occurring, such as the leak in our roof that we can’t seem to fix or the new limp our dog is experiencing…typical stuff. We also talk about our business plan and revise it on a weekly basis.
As a matter of fact, most of our business planning takes place over a strong cup of Joe. On our last visit, an interesting occurrence made me realize how well Starbucks has done with their marketing.
As we entered the coffee shop, we saw the Guatemala Casi Cielo® coffee had just arrived. We had been told by our friend, Taylor, who is a Shift Supervisor at “our” Starbucks, that this coffee was amazing. Therefore, we REALLY wanted to try it.
They did not have the coffee brewed at the time, but they did have it available in the Keurig K-Cups. 12 K-Cups in the package for $12.99. That works out to just a tad over $1 per cup of coffee. We heard the $12.99 price and immediately put the box of K-Cups down because we thought the price was too expensive.
After that, we proceeded to the counter to order our two coffees which were about $9 in total. One Tall Flat White and one Peppermint Mocha Latte. We had no problem paying that price for the coffee, because we love the taste and we love the experience.
It didn’t hit me until the next day that our 2 coffees totaled about 2/3 of the price that 12 K-Cups would have cost. I never even thought twice about paying $9 for 2 cups of coffee, but hastily balked at paying $12.99 for 12 cups of coffee. Where’s the logic in that?
In a nutshell, that is effective marketing. Starbucks has done an amazing job building their brand as the best coffee shop in the country. Because of that, millions of people each day (including myself) are willing to pay way more than a cup of coffee is actually worth.
Isn’t it about time you build your brand like Starbucks has done? Whether you are a small business comprised of just yourself or a business with hundreds of employees, efficient and consistent branding is critical for your success. Start now and build your brand, gain loyal customers, and grow your business larger than you could ever imagine!
