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STARBUCKS
A BRAND EXTENSION CASE HISTORY: STARBUCKS By Matteo Melani From Millennials to seniors and adolescents... For years, Starbucks has been selling its own branded food and beverages, through large-scale global distribution, reaching customer groups that go beyond young consumers.
Starbucks Juice
when Starbucks implemented its brandextension strategy for branded stores and supermarkets around the world, experimenting with products never sold before. Between the end of November and the beginning of December 2020, it launched Starbucks Home, a limitededition line of packaged flavored coffees sold in physical stores. They included Starbucks Holiday Blend K-Cup pods (hazelnut flavored coffee pods), Peppermint Mocha Flavored K-Cup pods (mint chocolates), and Frappuccino Peppermint Mocha (cappuccino and chilli flavored The products that the famous chain of coffee shops distributes in supermarkets mainly consist of food stuffs and a beverage range, from coffee pods to refreshing drinks, which can be purchased by any type of consumer. Selling in supermarkets is a brand extension technique that, in addition to advertising its brand, allows Starbucks to acquire new customers. In fact, since many years Starbucks has opened its own branded coffee stores all over the world, catering to the preferences of an extremely wide audience: from office workers who want to have a coffee on their lunch break, to tourists who want to have a snack after visiting a museum. However, not all their products are distributed in every country where Starbucks is present. For example, last January in the US only, Starbucks launched a fruit juice line called Evolution Fresh in supermarkets and a small selection of health food stores. The only exception to this US campaign was last Christmas, when Evolution Fresh products were sold in supermarkets and hypermarkets around the world. In addition to these limited-
edition products, there are also those that can be found at any time of the year or can be ordered online. The growth in product sales in highstreets chains has prompted Starbucks to forge partnerships with several other brands. One such collaboration has been with Nestlè for the promotion of coffees that can be prepared at home such as Premium Insta Coffee, which has the same high quality 100% Arabica beans served in Starbucks coffee shops around the world. Starbucks’ strategy has proved to be effective both for regular customers, and for new clients.
WHAT’S NEW FROM LAST YEAR
Whether it is summer or winter, every season is perfect for Starbucks to offer new products. Last year alone it presented several lines of food products that filled supermarkets and hypermarkets shelves all over the world, such as refreshing fruit drinks (launched last summer in the UK) or pumpkin spice (sold in the fall in overseas markets). However, last Christmas was the moment
