Starbucks: Watering down the brand
Last week an internal memo from Howard Shultz, Chairman of Starbucks, came to light – and now every brand, dick and harry is commenting on the state of Starbucks dilution. And indeed hasn’t it – did it take a memo for us to realize this? Shultz says one of the ways to restore its brand experience is to make sure that each store smells of roasting coffee….but really, is that it?

Truth be told, there is a Starbucks on every other corner nowadays, doesn’t that sort of take away from the “unique” experience? When a brand reaches mass consumption, it tends to take on a life of its own. Starbucks is close to the WalMart of coffee. Perhaps that’s a bit much—but in my mind, Starbucks was once a left of center urban trendsetter...how can a brand retain that if it is mass marketed?