How Starbucks Weakened Its Own Brand

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0:44Fuel to start whatever's next. Quaker, official sponsor of FIFA World Cup 26. I-O, let's go! I-O, let's go! Starbucks is in trouble again. I'm Joe Pine, co-author of The Experience Economy, and I have long used it as the exemplar for the shift from goods and services into experiences. Starbucks turns a cup of coffee worth two or three cents of beans into a coffee drinking experience worth four, five, six dollars per cup. The fundamental problem, as my co-author Louis-Etienne Dubois and I discussed in our recent HBR article, Starbucks is commoditizing itself. So what is self-commoditizing? It's when a company shifts its mindset from the real value it's creating for customers to focus on efficiency and volume.

1:30In Starbucks' case, it's causing the company to lose its authenticity and lessen the third-place experience for which it's known. Comfy chairs are gone, replaced by hard wooden ones. The rich aroma of coffee beans, gone, replaced by ready-to-use sealed packages. The company's loyalty program focuses consumers on price rather than value, and mobile ordering is ruining the on-premise experience. It's not too late for Starbucks to write the ship and return to its experiential course as Howard Schultz himself has pleaded management to do. The company should redesign its loyalty program, cater to takeaway customers without impairing the experience for which it is famous, and even charge for the time customers spend in the place.

2:10Doing so will take a leader with an appreciation for the value of experiences in its places, someone who bleeds coffee and connections, not just dollars and cents. For more details on this, go to hbr.org. Queen Carvania stood haloed by the morning sun. An army hung on her every word. My champions, I have sold my chariot on Carvana. Twas a lovely SUV, an inexplicably queenly offer. They're even coming to the castle to collect it. Tonight, we feast. An offer you can feast on. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pick up these, mail, bye. Stitch Fix. Stop shopping. Get styled. A plus on the outfit, Miss Turner.

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