Starbucks Corporation, located in Seattle, in the US, mainly deals in coffee and coffee products while at the same time selling products like fine pastries, snacks, and espresso drinks. As such, it is important for the company to employ effective promotional methods in order to create awareness about their products to the target market. Starbuck has made use of IMC in over to gain a competitive advantage over industry players and to sell their brand. Additionally, the company uses sponsorships, public relations, and advertising. The use of these effective promotional methods diversifies its operations worldwide.
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is an approach employed by businesses to promote their brands using a variety of communication channels. Most companies including Starbucks have moved away from mass advertising and have instead focused on niche marketing, which is more effective. According to Pardun (2013), IMC is advantageous because it enables organizations to carry out campaigns that are cost-effective while at the same time adding value to consumers. The benefit of IMC is that marketers are able to create awareness of their brands without overwhelming consumers. There are so many products in the market and consumers tend to be overwhelmed by advertisements of such products because most of them are irrelevant to the wants and needs of potential customers. Contrarily, IMC ensures that the needs of consumers are met given that marketers clearly communicate messages and their brand’s story using several channels of communication. The other advantage of IMC is that it gives an organization a competitive advantage especially for companies aiming to boost their profits and expand their businesses (Pardun, 2013). In fact, IMC makes it possible for small and middle size companies to penetrate the market in spite of the limitations in the marketing budgets and human resources.
Starbucks has realized numerous benefits for using IMCs within the company. To begin with, IMC increases the contact of the company with its clients. Besides the traditional methods of communication like radio and print media, IMC makes use of contacts like direct marketing, after-sales service, and marketing by word of mouth and the internet (Bussing, 2009). Consequently, Starbucks has been able to promote its product across a wide segment of the market hence its expansion and increased profitability. Starbuck has been able to use the integrated marketing communication to ensure that the business operates outside its normal hours of business. Through the online platform, the company has been able to avail themselves to their customers consistently thus contributing towards the success of the business. Furthermore, IMC has made it possible for Starbucks to market its products objectively: hence, it was much easier for the company to attain its marketing goals.
Starbuck has been able to make use of social media to gain a competitive advantage in the coffee industry. The company has been able to establish a strong brand presence by advertising their products online (Bussing, 2009). Through, IMC they are able to engage their clients online and this has enabled the company to achieve a remarkable following. As a result, large portions of the market have become fans of Starbucks’ coffee. Bussing (2013) argues that through advertising, the company has been able to sell its brand values, which are sincerity, honesty, and consistently connecting with customers. For example, Starbuck interacts with their customers on Facebook by providing information concerning their products while also allowing their clients to give them valuable feedback. The online advertising method has undoubtedly been effective as is evident from the praises
Besides advertising, Starbucks has employed the use of sponsorships as is evident from the use of the Starbuck Gold Card. This incentive is far more effective than offering free coffee or discounts to customers. The Starbuck Gold Card is beneficial because it promotes customer loyalty (Pardun, 2013). Moreover, the card has an aspect of prestige as it rewards the company’s regular customers. Starbucks uses various communication tools to enhance IMC in the course of marketing its products. Some of these tools include blogs, magazines, billboards, webinars, television, and the search engine optimization. Using both the digital and traditional channels of communication has enabled the company to reach most of its target clients. Starbucks also has a competitive advantage because of the strong public relations it maintains with their clients (Pardun, 2013). The company’s personnel strive to maintain existing clients through word of mouth advertising. Starbuck’s employees ensure that they provide their customers with quality services. For example, in case the client is not satisfied with the product or service provided the customer service department makes an effort to solve the problem to ensure customer satisfaction.
Conclusion
It is important for business to incorporate integrated marketing in their promotional activities. In the modern day, consumers are usually bombarded with numerous advertisements. Therefore, it is important to make use of IMC as it filters the unnecessary adverts leaving consumers with a clear mind to make informed decisions on the products they want to buy. Moreover, companies need to use other promotional methods like sponsorships, public relations and the use of adverts. Evidently, these methods have enabled Starbuck Company to become a leader in the coffee industry.
References
Bussing-Burks, M. (2009). Starbucks. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood Press.
Pardun, C. J. (2013). Advertising and society: An introduction. Chichester, U.K: Wiley-Blackwell.
