Since its foundation in 1971 in Seattle, Starbucks has set its pace to expand profitably and stand strong in market due to determination and hard work of three gentlemen, Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegel, and Gordon Bowker who were later joined by Howard Shultz in 1982. Today it is one of the largest coffee retailers of the world having almost 10,000 coffee shops in more than sixty countries across the globe.



Innovation and expansion has always been Starbucks focus. One of the reasons they have turned out to be a giant in food and beverage industry is because of their effective and efficient marketing strategies. Implementation of these strategies has made them achieve their long term growth and reach new markets and their potential consumers.

Starbuck's market segmentation:

To acquire the maximum market share in the industry, Starbucks' key strategy has been its close attention to its market segments. It not only uses demographic segmentation in terms of gender, income, age and ethnic background but also employ geographic segmentation drawing upon country or region of the world and its market size in that specific region and climate.

In the initial years of its business the three partners aimed at targeting well off customers who were educated and those with white collar jobs but soon they realized growth opportunities in the industry and set strategies to cater a wider array of market segment.



Men and women with age brackets of 25 to 40 is Starbuck's primary target market as this account lays basis for almost half the percentage of its entire business. The sales of Starbucks demonstrate that it is usually favored by young adults with age brackets of 18 to 24 that actually end up to almost 40 percent of its total sales. Therefore, Starbucks included younger customers, less educated as well as those with lower pay scale in their potential consumers and drove marketing strategies to attract them. Soon they were determined to target consumers from all age groups, ethnicities, rural areas and various communities with more focus on affluent and tech-savvy customers.

Starbuck's positioning:

Starbucks has positioned its brand as "qualitative" and "highly esteemed". Being in an extremely competitive environment it is crucial to set up itself like an upscale brand primarily through its stores and service to create difference in its customers' minds. Esteemed socialization is one of the characteristics of Starbucks's customers therefore their stores provide perfect venues to create valued experience for socializing. It is trying to be a place for students for gatherings, Lạc Sơn Đại Phật hanging out, studies.












The focal point of positioning strategy is customer based. This helps them to provide the most excellent service being in most competitive service industry giving them a competitive edge amongst others.