This is post #9 of the reExperience Starbucks Project in conjunction with Becky Carroll and Customers Rock! Check out Becky's Latest Post: Re-Experiencing Starbucks, Update 7 - Listening to Customers
Survey at the end of the post - please tell us what you think about the changes at Starbucks
You probably already know about the new blended lemonade. It is being aggressively sampled at my local Starbucks stores in the Waco area. But did you know about the "Perfect Frappuccino"? I didn't, until I ducked into the Starbucks at 24th & Nueces in Austin, Texas.
(oops, and then the batteries died on my Flip)[If you can't see the video in your reader: Click Here]
It seems Austin is a test market for future products at Starbucks and I stumbled on to made-to-order Frappuccinos. You are allowed to order your Frap the way you order your coffee. As you can see from this pic I snapped on my cell phone, you get to adjust three components of the drink: the milk, the coffee, the sweetness.
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| Photo credit: Me! |
Picking your coffee is a little misleading, because you don't get to choose a particular coffee and then have Starbucks brew it for you. Really you are just allowed to add an additional "puff" of coffee or reduce the amount of coffee in your Frap.
I liked the experience. It was kind of exciting and fun to order a Frappuccino in a new way. It wasn't perfect, but that was my fault. I need to adjust my formula until I find something that works for me. But my Frap was unique to me and I was part of the creation process.
While there was a lot of pressure on me to figure out my perfect formula, there was also a lot of pressure on the baristas. They were more than willing to do the extra work, but the process was still a little confusing to them as well. I can see this clogging up lines while the baristas assemble a "non-fat, extra coffee, sugar-free, vanilla Frappuccino."
This will be a big hit if it is launched nationwide, but only for a while. Then it will become habit, just like ordering your own unique coffee is now. I'm pretty straight, it's just a grande, non-fat misto for me. But in the beginning it was exciting trying to figure out what I wanted. And that's the problem with product-based experience differentiation.
Product-Based Differentiation
Most of what we hear coming from Starbucks these days is product-focused. That creates challenges. Because it means continually creating new products to keep the experience fresh. Additionally, there probably are not any products you can create that competitors can't create.Then there's the expense of equipment and training for each new product rolled out.
Product differentiation is not in alignment with CEO Howard Schultz's declaration that he wants Starbucks to be our "third place" to hang out (other than home and work). Hopefully we'll see some of that later this year.
So what do you think of Starbucks' changes so far? Becky Carroll and I would like to hear what you, our readers, think about Starbucks and its “re-Experience” project.Please take just a minute to click on the survey link below and give us your opinion. You could even win, what else, a gift card to Starbucks! We will be sure to report the results here soon.
| See all previousreExperience Starbucks here: |  |
What other bloggers are saying about the Starbucks Experience:
A Starbucks Experience YouTube Video from Joseph Michelli on Starbucks experience
Helping Starbucks Improve the Customer Experience - The Sixth Step by Meikah Delid on CustServ
Starbucks Ideas by Michael Buckley on Mine Your Own Business
Starbucks Apologizes?... by Shawn Lovejoy
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4 comments:
Jay,
Thanks for the link. While I'm not a big fan of Starbucks, I do appreciate their efforts at regaining their former glory.
As you point out, it's all about the experience. Traditionally the market leader doesn't have the best products. Lots of places serve better coffee than Starbucks. McDonald's doesn't serve the best burger.
The same system that allows every Starbucks or McDonalds to serve exactly the same product makes it almost impossible for them to deliver a superior product.
It's much easier to duplicate an outstanding experience than it is to duplicate an outstanding product. As you point out, Starbucks would do well to work on the thing they do best.
Mike, It is possible to differentiate on product, but it's pretty difficult. You have to have a very unique product.
It's just that Howard Schultz keeps talking about the Third Place, but I don't see those third-place initiatives yet. Here's hoping...
By the way, great blog post today on Starbucks. I encourage readers to click on Mike's link and read his new post.
Jay, Excellent points and this is a fun project that you and Becky are doing to follow. Whenever you can add choices for your customer, that certainly enhances their experience, but to your point, all of this becomes tomorrow’s commodity,
I was hoping to see changes in décor, interesting and different seating arrangements that promote connections, iPod chargers, More Remarkable, which is what made Starbucks for me, but all of this is challenging to scale, I am still a devoted customer though
Eric, you bring up a couple of good points.
First, customers don't want choice, they want what they want. In that respect the Perfect Frappuccino is good. That's the way we like to order our favorite coffee drink so why not the Frap, other than it takes a lot of effort to make a Frap.
Second, I submit that you are a loyal customer of Starbucks...until someone else will give you what you are long for from Starbucks.
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