Coffee and Starbucks Essay

How Did Starbucks Become an Icon of America Pop Culture? â€Å"Coffee† is a high frequency word in people’s lives. Students like to read books with sunshine and a cup of coffee. Professors like to walk into their classrooms to start their first class with cups of coffee in hand. People usually drink coffee with their breakfast. Most fast food breakfast meals, such as McDonald’s, include a cup of coffee. A cup of coffee in the morning can give people an energetic and fresh day. â€Å"Americans really do like coffee. † This saying comes from a video called The History of Coffee Culture in America. Coffee culture is profound in America. Most American people love coffee not only because coffee culture is popular and cool, but also because it tastes good. Americans already had adapted well to let coffee become a part of their lives. When the topic comes to coffee, people always think of Starbucks because it is different from other coffee stores. It has customized service, superior taste, a wide range of options, and unique packaging and ideals. As time goes on, Starbucks more and more approaches people’s lives and becomes an important part of the coffee culture in America, even in the whole world. Now, the Starbucks brand has become a part of pop culture in this 2 wang century. It uses a superior product, unique principles and attractive designs to make an ordinary coffee shop become special and exceptional. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world (Starbucks). It had 10,924 stores in the United States in 2012, and the company has been expanding and growing quickly in the two years since (Starbucks Company Statistics). The first Starbucks opened in Seattle, Washington, on March 30, 1971, by three partners who met while they were students (Starbucks). People always think the Starbucks green logo is Heather Graham holding up two striped bass, but the symbol actually means obsession, addiction and death. People may not realize that the woman in their green label with twin fishtails is a siren from Greek mythology. She was chosen as the logo because Starbucks was looking for a nautical theme to capture the spirit of Seattle (7 Horrifying). Maybe people will ask, then why is Starbucks called â€Å"Starbucks†? The name â€Å"Starbucks† is not picked randomly by the originator, it actually means a lot. It is nothing to do with the logo and product. Actually â€Å"Starbucks† is a person’s name. In a famous novel called Moby Dick, the whaler â€Å"Pequod† has a first-mate who loves coffee very much. His name is Starbucks. The book Pour Your Heart Into It-How Starbucks Built A Company One Cup at a Time is written by Howard Schultz. He is Starbucks’ chairman. He thought the name â€Å"Starbucks† reminds people of the sea adventure stories and histories about coffee merchant travel around the world to find high quality coffee beans (Dori Jones Yang). The originators actually expected a lot from this name and this company from the beginning. 3 wang. Thefirstandalsothemostimportanttraitforasuccessfulbusinessisasuperior product. They are committed to buying and serving high-quality coffee to keep the pure taste. Starbucks’ coffee beans mainly come from Costa Rica and Asia. They have strict management system to control the quality of coffee beans and other products. That is why Starbucks can keep purity of their coffee (Starbucks). GreatvarietyisanotherreasonpeoplepreferStarbucks. Ithastonsofflavorsof coffees. They also have a secret menu, which not a lot of people know. People also can design their own coffee in Starbucks App. Starbucks also has special coffee for each season even special events, such as pumpkin flavor drinks for Halloween. â€Å"Starbucks up to now is not just a coffee maker. It actually only makes coffee-flavored drinks,† a Starbucks’ marketing manager said in a promotion video. They are professionals at making coffee drinks, and firstly they have to learn how to make it right. Legend is one of the originators; he went to Italy-the birth of coffee-to visit for a few months before they started the business. Starbucksalsohaveauniqueideaabouthowtosealcoffeethathascreativenew practices around the country. They uses Italian words for the cup size such as â€Å"Grande† for medium, not only to demonstrate that they are professional, but also to give people a feeling that it is cool and fashionable. Even though people do not think â€Å"Grande† can prove this coffee store is professional, it will still give people a feeling that they are special. Starbucks does not give much advance publicity, and they do not have a lot of 4 wang posters, but the few posters they have are concise and specific. The main idea of the poster is to express that coffee is equal to energy. The â€Å"Morning† set of posters tells people they need caffeine to make the day full of energy. An energetic day sounds attractive, so Starbucks’ use of people’s desire to have â€Å"an energetic day† encourages people to buy coffee. Starbucks also has another feature. They are not the same as other coffee stores, which encourage people to drink slowly and enjoy the coffee. On the contrary, they make â€Å"fast coffee. † Starbucks has a drive-thru, which is the principle for fast food. Fast coffee attracts different customer groups than other coffee stores. â€Å"Fast coffee† is more suitable for office workers, administrative workers, students, teachers, etc. who are adapting to the fast paced life. They are not poor and they do not have time to sit down and enjoy coffee in the coffee store, so Starbucks is absolutely suitable for them. These kinds of customers account for the vast majority of people. The totally different principles make Starbucks become a totally different coffee store, standing out and becoming a leader of the whole coffee market. The huge customer base makes Starbucks become a part of the coffee culture, not a small coffee company any more. The huge customer group also gives this logo special definition, which is fashionable and cool. People have group psychology, which means people usually are interested in the activities that other people are doing. For example, if 90% of one’s friends like to eat â€Å"pepperoni pizza† for lunch, then that person must want to try it, unless he/she hates pizza. The Starbucks image is another feature. Not a lot of coffee stores write the 5 wang customer’s name on their cup. That is interesting and makes the customer feel special. Starbucks’ special management philosophy and principle make it special enough to make people talk about it and want to become a part of pop culture, too. Thereisanoldsentence,â€Å"Firstimpressionsareveryimportant. †Thedesignand appearance are the first impression that Starbucks gives to customers. So the attractive design is also an important reason why Starbucks has become a part of pop culture in this century. The first important design is the logo, which is the â€Å"enchantress† from the Greek mythology. It gives customers a feeling of mystery, pretty and decorative. The outstanding logo makes their products attractive. Starbucks sells their â€Å"Starbucks China Cups† for not a low price, but still a lot of people want to buy it. The main reason is they are pretty, and people do not think cups with a Starbucks’ logo are ugly. The second reason, of course, people think Starbucks is cool and popular. It is a symbol of fashion. A wide range of options and attractive design makes Starbucks products become more and more welcome. Not only the pretty logo and the products, the gift card is another highlight of attractive design. Most big companies or stores have their own special gift card, but Starbucks has many. They have tons of different design gift cards each year, for different seasons, special festivals, birthdays, birth and graduates. Their pretty designs and special meaning made them popular. Starbucks is popular,but customershave topay forit. Starbucks’ averageprice for coffee ruled higher than other coffee stores. A tall latte in Starbucks is $3. 00 without tax. 6 wang In McDonald’s it is only $1. 99, and in Dunkin Donuts it is only $1. 69 (Yahoo Answers). Thus it can be seen that Starbucks goes far beyond the average price. If people want to enjoy high quality coffee or catch up with fashions, people have to pay more money. Different company usually has different consumer orientation. High-level consumer group usually do not care about a few dollars. They only care about the quality and how easy and fast it is. Actually that group of people is in the minority. Most people care about a few dollars, especially people who loves coffee. Spend few more dollars on each cup of coffee is actually a huge number of money. People have to face a trade-off. Want to catch up with fashions or improve the status? Then pay more money first. NoonecandenythepopularityofStarbucks. Itusesitsspecialdesigntocatch customers’ eyes, such as their representative logo and their special design cups. Then they use excellent products and unique taste to keep customers coming back. Finally uses people’s group psychology and the strong principle to make themselves to became a part of popular culture, not only a coffee shop. Now, Starbucks is a trend. It is expensive, but still a lot people chase after it. Work Cited â€Å"Coffee Culture. † Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 Sept. 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. 7 wang Curtasu, Matei. â€Å"Starbucks Good Morning! Good Morning! † Behance. Behance, 11 July 2012. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. â€Å"Starbucks Company Statistics. † Statistic Brain RSS. Starbucks Company Statistics, 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. â€Å"Starbucks† Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 Sept. 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. â€Å"The History of Coffee Culture in America. † History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places. N. p. , n. d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. â€Å"Why is Starbucks coffee so expensive? Coffee isn’t worth five bucks! † Blinkie dot org. 5 Nov. 2012. Blinkie dot org. 30 Apr. 2014 Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n. d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. â€Å"7 Horrifying Historical Origins of Famous Corporate Logos. † Cracked. com. Cracked, 16 Feb. 2012. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.