1、经典案例十：Johnson they were responsible for an aging parent; or they were single mothers or fathers. A survey of 10,000 J he set up a series of feedback sessions in which employees could tell him what was on their mind. As a result, Christenson reorganized the human relations depart-ment to focus on a n
2、umber of themes important to employees.经典案例十三：Starbucks来源：新天地英语 浏览：4201 次 13 Product and pricing decisionsON THE JOB: FACING A BUSINESS CHALLENGE AT STARBUCKSBrewing Up Success NationwideHave you had your coffee yet today? If so, did you open a can of Folgers and brew it yourself, or did you hand $2
3、 to a barista and ask for a “single tall skinny mocha no whip with extra cocoa“? More and more coffee drinkers are getting their daily dose of java from Starbucks Coffee Company. Founded in 1971, Starbucks originally sold its trademark dark-roasted coffee beans in a few Seattle stores. But everythin
4、g changed when current chairman and CEO Howard Schultz took over in 1987. Schultz en-visioned selling gourmet coffee beverages in hip neigh-borhood coffee bars like the ones he saw on every corner while vacationing in Italy. He wanted Starbucks to be a meeting place where people could exchange ideas
5、 and es-cape from everyday hassles. And from day one he wanted to go national.Schultz focused on building a competitive advantage through a loyal, well-trained labor force that deliv-ers consistently superior products and service. He also fostered a company commitment to employer responsi-bility, en
6、vironmental stewardship, passion for coffee, and integrity in customer relations. His efforts paid off. In a decade, Starbucks grew to over 1,100 stores in 22 states and 3 foreign countries. In the United States, Starbucks literally changed the defi1ition of “a good cup of coffee.“ Loyal customers a
7、re described as “religious“ about the product. In fact, Starbucks is so highly regarded that the company is leveraging its reputation with brand exten-sions. Bottled coffee beverages, ice cream, music CDs, and a coffee-laced beer now bear the Starbucks logo and are available on grocery store shelves
8、. In addition, the company receives hundreds of joint venture proposals for new products every week.But even though the success of Schultzs vision has led to unprecedented opportunities, it has also created new challenges. Rapid expansion has led some consumers to view Starbucks as a corporate villa
9、in that rides into town, throws down a lump of cash to get the best locations, and then drives the local cafes out of business. Locals fear that a Starbucks on the corner means the loss of a communitys unique character. Brand extensions also raise new concerns; Although initial products have proven
10、successful, they run the risk of diluting Starbucks core identity as a premium coffee company. The company also faces the challenge of keeping quality consistent as the company continues to grow. Starbucks sets customers expectations high, and it must continue to meet those expectations to stay ahea
11、d of new competitors that enter the market almost daily.These concerns weighed heavily on the minds of Schultzs marketing team as Starbucks celebrated its twenty-fifth birthday. Team members were developing a new marketing strategy that they hoped would establish Starbucks image and assure its futur
12、e success nationwide. If you were on that team, what would you do to maintain Starbucks leadership position? How would you evaluate the potential of new products? How would you define your target markets? What image would you want consumers to have of Starbucks, and how would you maintain that image
13、 as the company continues to grow?On the Job: Meeting Business Challenges at StarbucksStarbucks entered its twenty-sixth year as the uncontested leader of the gourmet coffee market. The company had already expe-rienced incredible growth, with sales approaching $700 million in 1996, and Schultz had p
14、lans to continue expanding, opening almost 900 new stores over the next several years. But the com-ing years would undoubtedly prove challenging. Competitors like The Second Cup, Seattles Best Coffee, and Barnies had ex-pansion plans of their own. And many companies imitated Schultzs formula for suc
15、cess with the hope of beating Starbucks at its own game. The Starbucks marketing team had to be savvy to stay on top.The team began by extensively researching both com-petitors and Starbucks stores. They brought in hidden cameras to document how well the employees knew their coffee, and they asked c
16、ustomers how they felt about the products, atmosphere, service, and coffee. The insights they gained became the foun-dation of their strategy.As with all good marketing strategies, the heart of the plan was a vision of how they wanted to position Starbucks in the coffee market. In addition to remain
17、ing the quality leader, they wanted Starbucks stores to appear more like local cafes than a national chain and more like a sanctuary from daily stresses than just a take-out coffee store. Other goals included boosting stagnant sales in older stores, establishing a central fo-cus for all Starbucks pr
18、oducts, and developing national adver-tising that would convey a consistent image. Achieving these objectives required making changes in products, distribution, and promotion.Over the years, Starbucks core products, coffee beans and beverages, had already undergone changes to meet cus-tomer preferen
19、ces. But some merchandise, such as mugs and coffee makers, had been left untouched. Now new merchan-dise was planned for all stores. In addition, new food items were offered to attract customers throughout the day (because half the days sales were typically made during the morning hours). New produc
20、ts were targeted for grocery store distribution, including cold coffee drinks and ice cream novelties. How-ever, the company was adamant about maintaining its identity through strict product standards. If a product wasnt fun-damentally related to coffee and to Starbucks core values, it wouldnt carry
21、 the Starbucks logo.The retail distribution strategy had to address additional challenges. To combat the fears of certain communities about losing their uniqueness, Starbucks began designing new stores to reflect local cultures. For example, a store in Seattles upscale Queen Anne neighborhood has a
22、fireplace and large chairs that invite customers to linger and relax. The company also began redesigning older stores (where sales had begun to level off) in order to give them a more comfortable feel. To expand its mar-ket, Starbucks rolled out a nationwide line of specialty coffees to be sold excl
23、usively in supermarkets. The company packaged the supermarket coffee uniquely but priced this new line of coffees to match prices at company stores, keeping the brand image high while discouraging cafe customers from purchasing Starbucks at the supermarket.Even though product and distribution change
24、s were important, a well-designed promotion strategy was the key to building a consistent image nationwide. Starbucks had always taken an undifferentiated approach to marketing. If a person was a coffee lover, that person was a potential Starbucks customer. And research shows that coffee lovers have
25、 an emotional tie to the beverage. It can even be a part of their self-identity. To capitalize on this, the marketing team focused on building a national campaign that didnt feel national. They wanted customers to build a personal identification with Starbucks products. So the advertisements they de
26、veloped were down-to-earth and genuine, depicting Starbucks as a place to find peace in a hectic world. To counter arguments that the company is too pristine, Starbucks used ads that were somewhat unpolished, as though an art student had done them. In addition, the com-pany began to experiment with
27、“digital marketing“ through a hip Web site that attempts to re-create the coffeehouse culture on the Internet.Finally, to ensure high standards of quality and maintain what Schultz believes is Starbucks biggest point of differentiation, the company reaffirmed its commitment to its employees. All Sta
28、rbucks employees receive extensive training before they set foot behind a counter. They also receive progressive com-pensation, including full health benefits and stock options, even for part-time employees. As Schultz says, “The only way were going to be successful is if we have the people who are
29、attracted to the company and who are willing to sustain the growth as owners.“Only time will tell what the gourmet coffee market will I be like when Starbucks turns 50. But by continuing to offer the best-quality coffee products in a comfortable environment, I and by supporting the brand through inn
30、ovative promotion, I Howard Schultz expects Starbucks to remain on top of the bean hill经典案例 12：Shes Florists来源：新天地英语 浏览：2996 次 12 Marketing and Customer SatisfactionFacing Business Challenges at Shes FloristsProfiting from a Bunch of DataWith only $500 in their pockets, Helen and Marty Shih (pro-nou
31、nced “she“) came to the United States from Taiwan in 1979 to pursue a graduate education. But the brother and sister were sidetracked-instead of using the money Dad had given them to begin their studies, they invested it in flowers. A visionary with a passion for life, Marty Shih believed they had a
32、 one-way ticket to a better life. So he and sister Helen set up a flower stand on a Los Angeles street corner.They worked hard-sometimes 16 and 18 hours a day-and before long they were able to move their busi-ness indoors. Neither had a formal education in market-ing, but they understood the importa
33、nce of customer ser-vice. They began making notes about who their customers were, where they lived, why they were buying flowers, who they were sending them to, and what types of flowers they liked. The Shihs used this information to send postcards reminding customers that a special day was approach
34、ing.Their customers appreciated being reminded to send flowers, and business grew. Customer by customer, the Shihs expanded beyond their little lobby stand, even-tually opening 16 Shes Flowers shops in the Los Angeles area. They did more than just sell their blooms. They mass-produced their arrangem
35、ents on an assembly line, just like McDonalds mass-produces hamburgers. Each shop offered between 15 and 21 designs, which were listed on a menu board. Again, customers appreciated the speed and consistency of these flower arrangements.However, bouquets werent the only things blossom-ing at Shes Flo
36、wers. Over time, the companys customer in-formation files had grown and were full of valuable names-mostly Asian American immigrants. In fact, the Asian Amer-ican market became the Shihs primary focus. Pulling Asian names and addresses out of phone books and recording cus-tomers one-by-one, the Shih
37、s eventually gathered so many names (all potential customers) that they decided to spend $200,000 to computerize their database. In 1985 they de-signed a database program that allowed them to track much more information than they had been able to keep by hand-credit-card numbers, payment dates, pers
38、onal mes-sages, delivery and vendor services, preferred floral arrange-ments, and so on. Simple to run, the database was integrated with all the shops cash registers. In fact, employees could not complete a sales transaction without inputting all cus-tomer data, including personal notes like “Mr. Jo
39、nes never wants the orchid arrangement to be sent to Mrs. Jones:It wasnt long before Floralfax invited Shes Flowers to join a worldwide telemarketing organization that was staffed by American Airlines reservationists during slow travel periods. After joining, the Shihs annual revenues for the 16 sho
40、ps doubled-from $2 million to $4 million. Convinced that telemarketing was a garden of opportu-nity, Marty Shih began exploring the possibility of selling other products to customers.If you were Marty Shih, how would you profit from a customer information file that contained data on mostly Asian Ame
41、rican immigrants? What other products might you market to your customers? How would you continue to build relationships with your customers and keep their business?Meeting Business Challenges at Shes FloristsCustomer by customer, Helen and Marty Shih built a business empire serving the huge multi cu
42、ltural Asian American market. While Helen continued to push flowers to customers, Marty be-gan telemarketing other services to this rapidly growing mar-ket. After all, having a database of Asian American immigrants, knowing their language, and understanding their cultural dif-ferences, the Shihs cou
43、ld make their blossoming database pay off. So Marty Shih founded the Asian Business Co-op, an Asian buying club that negotiates discounts on products and services for its members.For instance, by entering into a joint venture with Sprint, the co-op sold special discount long-distance services to the
44、 Asian community. Of course, the growth of the partnership was helped by the fact that Asian Americans make three times more inter-national calls than other ethnic groups in the United States. Soon Marty entered into relationships with other service providers: DHL Air Express, New York Life Insuranc
45、e Company, Service Master, Lucent Technologies, United Van Lines, and Pearle Vi-sion-to name a few. It seemed that the Shihs not-so-little data-base (currently 1.5 million names) was a gold mine of opportu-nity for companies looking for new business. And Marty was their bridge-repackaging and custom
46、izing products and services and selling them to Asian Americans at a substantial discount.At the heart of the co-op were the 550 telemarketers who understood the diverse Asian culture and collectively spoke six different languages-Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Tagalog (spoke
47、n in the Philippines). Asian im-migrants (most of whom did not speak English) needing advice on dealing with immigration officials or perhaps help in un-derstanding a bill, could call the Asian American 411 (at 1-800-777-Club) and get whatever information they re-quested-for free. After all. Marty knew that they would even-tually buy something. Meanwhile, each caller was added to the companys database. With over 1,200 new immigrants calling daily, the Shihs decided to sell the flower shops and concentrate on the more profitable telemarketing business.
