Starbucks finally
figured out that there are lots of people who don’t like their “dark roasted”
coffee, but instead, prefer a milder blend. So
now Starbucks has finally introduced “Blonde” roast to satisfy those who prefer
a non Starbucks taste. (Bold, bitter and burnt!!)
I’m no super
genius, but I have hated Starbucks coffee for years because it was TOO strong
and TOO bitter. And I know I wasn't the only one out there. Lots of people told me the same thing
But if you wanted more quantitative data, all you had to do was go to several airports
around he country and see the number of people in line for a Starbucks coffee vs.
those people in line for a Dunkin Donuts' coffee.
DD had almost twice as many
people in line as Starbucks.
So why did it take
them so long to figure this out? Several answers are possible.
1.
They simply didn't have their ear to the ground
and didn't speak to non Starbucks customers.
“Who Knew?”
2.
They knew but didn't think the market was
big enough for this new product to scale.
“We didn't think we could make
money at this!”
3.
We didn't want to corrupt our brand which stood
for dark, bold, strong coffee. “We were protecting our brand, maybe?”
4.
Our sales have fallen because of Dunkin
Donuts and MacDonald’s selling breakfast coffee and our share was eroded so we
had to do something. It seems like Blonde Roast is a good idea to try and get more
market share.” “We were losing money, what could we do?”
You know why they didn't introduce this product earlier?
The
answer, I believe, is “pure arrogance.”
“Starbucks products
are the best,” management probably thought, “why do we have to change? Let the customer learn to like our existing
products.”
Take note that you
are not treating your customer the same way nor ignoring his wishes for new
products. They have been telling us
about “wanting 6 to 8 week leagues”, and we have been telling you for a couple of years now!!
Are you listening to your customer?
