Question

Starbucks is a relatively new brand, allegedly created without any advertising. Do some research (on Google, for example) to try to find out how the brand was built. What are the lessons for other new brands? Pick a strong brand with a prominent spokesperson (an example would be Dennis Haysbert at Allstate Insurance). Discuss how the brand positioning and the spokesperson fit together. Do competitors also have strong spokespersons? Can you explain why or why not?

Answer 1

Starbucks had a unique approach when it came to creating brand value through advertising. While companies like the bike and coca cola were spending a huge fortune on their advertising budgets, Starbucks was building customer interaction model and brand loyalty amongst the enthusiasts. They had their entire budgets it listed in throwing parties for their customers which essentially allowed them to interact with their customers at a more intimate level. That was why Starbucks did not need to have a huge advertising budget for national television ads and campaigns and still stay relevant in the minds of the people. Utilising their model we can see that a more customer-centric approach to building brand value can be just as effective and may not rewire as much capital investment especially for beginning businesses.

A strong brand that I have chosen for the purpose of this report is Kojima Productions {game designing firm} and its spokesperson Hideo Kojima. Being a game design firm the brand needs to be able to leverage the use of customer interaction to provide them. With an advantage in the long run. Hideo Kojima's way of interacting with his loyal customer base and clients is what has made the company create their brand value just as much as the product. Other companies can learn from their model and try and develop a better strategy to be able to efficiently interact with their customers more often, involving their input, asking them about the product they want and giving them something in return for their loyalty. Competition such as Ubisoft also has the advantage of having a great spokesperson which enables the company to be able to develop a deeper bond with their customers and create brand value essentially.