IT IS MORE THAN A CUPPA

My Son Kevin asked me to join him for some conversation, and a cup of coffee. It required no more explanation. I knew where we were headed. You see he is addicted. Mention Starbucks and his eyes light up. In a way the enchantment has penetrated my staid ways. Kevin, as I have claimed in the past is my role model, but never imagined it to extend to my drinking habits.

This is more than my Son’s influence, and a coffee habit, it is the result of a success story. It is one of the greatest contemporary examples of Capitalism at its’ finest. The genius of Starbuck’s marketing cannot be overstated. They have not responded to a demand, they “created” the demand, and others have followed suit.

It is one of unique ideas and innovation. Outside of the technology industry, one of the best examples of marketing savvy to come down the pike in a long time, and it all started at a venue called Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington.

Coffeehouses had been around for years and coffee drinking for centuries. Both came together during the last sixty years to create a phenomenon of unheard of proportions. Starbucks is not the only firm producing extremely good tasting coffee. There has been an explosion of businesses catering to a variation of newly acquired tastes of the bean. With it there is the romance of how the coffee bean is nurtured and processed. It all has become more than just a cup of coffee. It is sold to an eager populace as an “experience”. They almost have one believing; “better than sex”!

Let us get back to the good old coffeehouse. By the way one thing we must make clear, Starbucks should not be considered a coffeehouse, it is a “coffeehouse company” Let’s talk briefly about coffeehouses any way because the “company’ would like you to subliminally enjoy some of the benefits coffeehouses of the 60’ and 70’s offered.

Those wonderful, friendly establishments offered coffee, but the coffee was not the primary attraction. In fact, the brew in most cases left much to be desired. These dimly lit venues were primarily the gathering place for the Jack Kerouac’s, and Allen Ginsberg’s of the world. My visits to those in Venice, California and Hollywood (cannot forget the Xanadu on Melrose) satisfied my conversation and curiosity needs but usually were followed by a trip to the local Denny’s for a good cup of Joe.

Starbucks is a Seattle based company. This is where it all started. It also was the location of one of the first “true” coffeehouses; “Last Exit on Brooklyn” that opened in June of 1967 by entrepreneur and chess player Irv Cisski. Unlike many similar venues it did provide an original espresso concoction. In order to give you a better understanding of what the “old coffeehouse” was about I offer you several excerpts, and quotes from those that lived the “Last Exit” experience.

Yasser Seirawan a noted chess player wrote; “a chess haven where an unlikely bunch of unusual people congregate to do battle”. He also described the Last Exit as “scrabble players, backgammon players, chess and game hustling. This became my home. This was to become my family.Cisski himself said, “So what if games-people turn away business, they add flavor. They are assets to a coffeehouse. He also described his intent to “create a haven where students and benign crazies ‘were welcome and where everyone felt equal and there were no sacred cows.

Seattle writer and journalist Knute Berger wrote; “It was one of Seattle’s great 60s landmarks, a gathering place for University of Washington students, radicals, poets, nut jobs, chess masters, teens, intellectuals, workers, musicians, artists, beatniks, and hippies.. I remember the din, the open-mike music, cigarette smoke, impromptu poetry readings, and the arguments of lefties, libertarians, crackpots, and cultists. You can hear the rhythm and roar of the counterculture as it lived and breathed.”

Now I ask; “does this sound like a Starbucks to you?

Howard Schultz the founder of Starbucks on a trip to Milan Italy put the concept together! At that time in 1982 Mr. Schultz was the director of marketing for a fledgling Starbucks named after Captain Ahab’s first mate in Moby Dick. He noted that coffee bars existed on practically every street. They served as a meeting place or public square. There were over 200,000 in Italy!

He could not sell his inspiration to those in charge but eventually through his genius, he took over Starbucks, implemented his ideas and the rest is history, Today there are 17,000 (11,000 in the U.S.) stores in 55 countries with India being next!

There exists in marketing something I call, “variations of a theme, it sells”. The theme of course is the product, and in this case it is coffee. Everything from café latte to a frappachino. You desire it you get it. In addition to coffee there is an inviting list of food items. Merchandise includes; equipment and music CDs.

Two of Howard Schultz’s business principles: the common goal is to act like a small company, and make sure growth does not dilute the company’s culture. They seem like contradictory statements but in essence it all works.

Just what is the company’s culture? To whom does the business cater? There is the suggested relationship to the American coffeehouse, and Italy’s coffee bars. The primary money making product is coffee. Give them credit. Through their committed effort to offer the finest of blends, Starbucks has achieved this magnificently, and have kept up, if not surpassed their competitors for an excellent variety of brews.

In order to separate his company from others and make it an inviting venue Mr. Shultz incorporated all the elements that existed in those coffee establishments in the old houses and in Italy. Although it really does not resemble those of old, the way it is set up, “hints the appearance of a place for intellectuals, and those that aspire”. There is a flavor or suggestion of a good old meeting place. But is it really? They do offer plug-ins for PCs, Wi-Fi, games, tables and chairs, and piped in jazz. A Starbucks will never be construed as a coffeehouse, and I do not think they wish to, it is merely implied for affect.

Whereas the coffeehouses of the 60s attracted a specific element of our society, they really were a result of that element. They were the product of a movement that began in the 50s with a segment of society labeled “Beatniks. The Beatniks were then followed by the Hippies. Both entities were in the most part made up of restless intellectuals, veterans of WWII, and the Korean War. The emerging Vietnam War added to the frustration. Dissatisfied with the status quo, they desired change in the controlling aspects of daily life. and all levels of society. Traditions as well as government were the targets. Freedom of expression was finally at work. And coffeehouses provided the forum. After all this was the 60s and as you are well aware, the impact of those voices resulted in a dynamic societal transformation!

A confession of sorts; as most of you that followed the weekly Re-Cappy are aware; there were occasional cynical and sarcastic references to Starbucks. This blog’s intention at the onset was to downplay the success story that is Starbucks. Commercialism at the expense of sacrificing honesty, and promoting mediocrity in a business enterprise was going to be the message.

I love capitalism but have an aversion to commercialism which is lifeblood of successful businesses. I have struggled with this dichotomy mainly because of commercialism’s likelihood of consequential mediocrity. Alas, somewhere during this challenging endeavor; I too, have become addicted.

No question about it Starbucks is a business and as a business must attract consumers. As I stated at the beginning of this article Starbucks created a demand. Drinking coffee has been elevated to a sophisticated level. When one mentions a Starbucks brew it is a far cry from the potentially rancid cup we formerly purchased for a nickel at a run down counter. The price? Who cares! I have a cuppa with a very respectable status logo on it. It has become so prized to order a café latte that when I ask for mine black-with no embellishments; I feel strange vibes over my shoulder:-)Soon!