Marketing Aims & Objective

1.1 Project Topic
My topic selection for this project is Topic 18: A review of the marketing strategy of Starbucks and its effectiveness. The reason for choosing this topic was because of my deep interest in marketing and also to understand the different ways as to how a company can market their products successfully. I would like to also further analyze as to how the usage of social media such as Facebook and Instagram, can actually help enhance the branding of the company and at the same time, market their products.

Moreover, through the extensive research and study of marketing, I hope to be able to understand the different types of marketing models that can be used in marketing a product and also, to understand the different types of marketing strategies that were used to run and later, expand a café business. As a student of ACCA of P3, I hope this project will help me understanding business models and also help me excel in P3. 1.2 Organization Selection

The organization that I have chosen is Starbucks. The reason for choosing Starbucks because I have always love their coffee and I love hanging out with my friends in the cafe. As Starbucks have many outlets here, It is very accessible in many parts of Singapore. This is because Starbucks is a popular café which is known all over the world. They have more than 15,000 stores in 50 countries. In Singapore alone, they have 100 outlets which they started out from 1994 till date. It is a very popular café hangout place among the students and working adults. Personally, it would be an ideal company to do my research especially when I have interest in setting up a café store someday. 1.3 Aims & objectives

This report aims to review Starbucks marketing strategy and its effectiveness which is focusing on how Starbucks expand their businesses in Singapore through product differentiation and whether they have meet their mission as a favourite go-to cafe among the rest of the coffee houses in Singapore such as Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.

1.4 Research Questions
1) What is Starbucks SWOT?
2) How Starbucksexpands their business growthfurtherby introducing new product differentiation in the market which is hugely promoted through the use of social media? 3) Does introducing new product contribute to thesuccessful development of Starbucks as a premium brand that leads to capturing more market shares in Singapore ? 4) Is their marketing strategy effective?

5) What are the favourable factors Starbucks have over their competitors (Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf) and what are the unfavourable factors that needs to be mitigated.

1.5 Research Approach

The report aims to analyze:
1) Starbucks Mission and Vison in the Food and Beverage industry in providing the local consumers with quality coffee which enhances their taste buds through its aroma and taste. This is fuelled through various marketing schemes used by Starbucks either via prints or through usage of social media. 2) Starbucks Marketing Mix

3) Starbucks Internal and external factors

Traditional Marketing-The 4 Ps of Marketing:
The marketing mix or what is commonly known as the 4 Ps is a framework for marketers to implement a marketing concept. It consists of a set of major decision areas that a company needs to manage in order to at least satisfy consumer needs. According to Kotler et al. (1999), the mix is a set of ‘controllable tactical marketing tools […] that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market’ (p.8). Hence, in an effective marketing program, all of those elements are ‘mixed’ to successfully achieve the company’s marketing objectives. The traditional marketing mix contains four major elements, the ‘4 Ps of marketing’. As defined by Kotler et al. (1999):

1.Product: Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. In includes physical objects, services, persons, places, organizations and ideas.

2.Price: The amount of money charged for a product or service, or the sum of the values that consumers exchange for the benefits of having or using the product or service.

3.Promotion: Activities that communicate the product or service and its merits to target customers with a view to persuading them to buy.

4.Place: All the company’s activities that make the product or service available to target customers. With the rapid changes surrounding organizations, the traditional marketing mix of the 4 Ps has been criticized for being too myopic in this current market situation.

The traditional marketing mix has also been disparaged for being too product-focused and for taking an overly inward-looking strategy with regards to the organization’s resources and capabilities in production matters. This is antithetical to attending to the more important organizational goal of satisfying the desired needs and wants of customers. In addition, the Web and E-commerce revolution has played a major role in alleviating customers’ ability to shape their relationships with the company. This has led customers to expect companies to market their products and services in ways that reflect more directly their individual needs. These changes have prompted enterprises that wish to stay ahead of their competitors to shift their traditional marketing approach to customer-targeted marketing.