Starbucks’ Target Market
Starbucks’ target market is any person and any age. The store offers juices and cocoa for children, creamy blended drinks for those who don't particularly like coffee, and a number of different types of brewed coffee. Starbucks continues to refine and target their product offerings to the changing tastes of consumers. The stores now sell specialty breakfast foods such as scones and muffins as well as a variety of beverages and coffee. The chain's specialty flavors of coffee are popular among American consumers.
Starbucks- Perceived Customers’ Need
Changes in the social and economic structure of the country are resulting in higher levels of disposable income and a greater interest in Starbucks products and merchandise. At the same time, other coffee shops are trying to tap in on the fad created by Starbucks. There are many competitors trying to become successful selling franchises for competitors to Starbucks. Starbucks senior management realized some time ago that there was no real difference between the quality of their coffee to that sold in competitor companies. Instead, the ubiquitous cup of Starbucks' coffee is a prop for many people. It makes a statement about the amount of disposable income and individual may have.
Marketers seeking a better or more comprehensive understanding of the marketplace, and how to best market the company’s products and services to the consumers that appears to represent the best use psychographic techniques and the most frequent selling opportunities. Even though a company such as Starbucks may have determined its target market and target market demographics, people within that group still have very different perceptions about the benefits or value of any product. They will be motivated by any number of reasons to purchase Starbucks, or to avoid doing so. To further target seller's marketing and sales efforts, it becomes essential to know not only who buys (or will buy) your product, but what makes them want to buy it. This requires an understanding of customers buying or spending patterns. As customers’ spending patterns change frequently, Starbucks wants to know what they can do to encourage consumer to purchase products more frequently. Starbucks' goal is to make a trip to the local Starbucks enjoyable enough and convenient enough that it becomes something done every day, and this is indeed a success by expanding their stores.
Costa
Indeed, Costa knows their customers well. Costa performed some research showing that 7 out of 10 coffee lovers prefer Costa Coffee to Starbucks or Café Nero. They wanted to communicate this message, reaching a wider audience.
The Costa campaign objective s mainly to drive the key message home (7 in 10 coffee lovers prefer Costa Cappucino to Starbucks). And to get consumers to change their perception that all coffee is equal and get them to believe that the quality of Costa Coffee is superior, as to encourage customers to increase consumption of Costa Coffee.
In the campaign, Costa successfully targeted coffee drinkers in the ‘commuter corridor’ prior to their first coffee in the morning. The Result was encouraging, 2 in 3 (63%) could recall the advertising. The advertising was deemed to be straight-forward and effective. The simple, bold message caught their eye (74% considered the ads eye-catching). The ads even contributed to a re-appraisal of Costa. The succeed of the campaign leads to a switch of customers from Café Nero and Starbucks drinkers to Costa. This demonstrates that Costa indeed understand their customers’ needs and values well.
Sources:
[1] Case Study, http://www.metro-advertising.co.uk/casestudies.html
