E Communication Strategies of Starbucks †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About the E Communication Strategies of Starbucks? Answer: Introduction Starbucks Coffee Corporation is an American based company that is specialized for coffeehouse chain. The organization was founded in Seattle, America. The aim of the company is to offer distinguished coffee to the valuable customers. Initially the development of the idea was constrained within America. However, with the international marketing strategy the company has been efficient in entering global markets with exquisite range of coffee products (Colleoni 2013). The range of coffee includes cold coffee, microground insta coffee, whole bean coffee long with latte, espresso and variation in teas. In the latest era, it has been found that the company has excelled in the communication strategy. Nevertheless, the electronic communication has weakened over the years due to technological improvement. However, the improvement in the electronic communication has helped the company to attain the short term and long-term objective (Goetsch and Davis 2014). Background of the study Starbucks Coffee Corporationis one of the most esteemed coffee companies in the world. The most important aspect of the global presence is not only the quality of products but also the communication strategies that are used by the company. It has been found in the survey of UK based fame count, that Starbucks is the first organization that has been successful in reaching 10 million customers through social media like Facebook. The marketing communication of the company has been effective with the help of six strategies that have been created over the years (Saebi and Foss 2015). In most of the cases, it is found that Starbucks has an integrated marketing mi that creates integrated communication strategies for the company. Key non-electronic communication methods and practices The most important aspect that has been started by the company in case of non-electronic communication is the word of mouth advertising strategy. Throughout the advent of the company the growing of the revenue generation is largely dependent on the concept of word of mouth. Most of the customers who have been part of the company have given their positive feedback in various face-to-face interactions. This has been crucial in the success of the company. Apart from this, word of mouth in face- to-face interaction has also helped in presenting the unique ambience of Starbucks. The comfort of the customers and the range of products have been fruitfully reached people round the globe (Beach 2014). Apart from this, the interaction of the company is strengthened with the bill or the invoice. The bill of the company has the necessary information with the contact details in case of any issue. This makes customers feel that they can reach the store in case of any issue. Key electronic communication methods and practices In case of the electronic medium, there are different platforms that the company has in order to stay connected to its fans and customers. Starbucks Community- The community of the company is created on different social media platforms. However, the company website and the blogs are the ones where people around the world can express their ideas. This also includes any of the issues that they have faced with the company. There are different kinds of discussions that are presented on these pages. This drives the interest of people along with their interest in being part of the company (Thorson and Moore 2013). These interactions are engrossing for customers. Twitter- This is one of the best social media interaction that is created by the company to communicate with people across the world efficiently. There are tweets and re-tweets that are important to keep customers integrated. Facebook The page on Facebook is one of the medium through which the blogs, videos are shared with the people. These could be prospective customers or people. However, the interaction is in the comment section, which is open for different types of discussions (Etter 2014). YouTube- The channel of the company on this site is having more than 4800 subscribers. There are different advertisements that are posted from time to time. The videos of the different charity works that is done by the company is also presented on the channel. Along with this various knowledgeable collection of videos is uploaded. This primarily includes different type of coffees that is produced are manufactured by the companies (Cornelissen 2014). Another pivotal step that is taking by Starbucks is to allow people to embed its videos on any site. This is unlikely for a global organization as this may lead to different controversies. In addition, the supreme experience of the company is projected through the embedding process. Mobile/ Cell phones connectivity- The app of the company is one of the most prominent marketing strategies that have been taken by the company. Moreover, the app is an easy way to stay connected with customers. The one click options that is offered by the company is to make the experience of the customers smooth for any age. SWOT Analysis on the companys overall communication The major competitor of Starbucks is Costa coffee. The communication SWOT analysis includes the following: Strengths- the strength of the company Costa coffee includes their presence in the digital marketing sector. The answers to the question of the customers are fast and quick. Along with this other than social media networking sites like Facebook, Twitter they are also available on Tumblr. The application of the company on the smart-phones is ideal for any person to get easy access of the necessary information (Swani, Brown and Milne 2014). Weakness - The weakness in the communication is when customers are not comfortable in speaking or understanding English. Apart from this, it is mostly noticed that the issue of communication strategy absence of promotional videos. In most of the websites, the presence of links or commercial videos of the organization are absent. Opportunity- The best opportunity that the company can derive from the communication includes making new entering strategy (Bey, Hauschild and McAloone 2013). The company has the idea of interacting with the franchise through different digital forums. This would enhance the chance of entering international market. Threat The thereat of the communication is the lack of integration that might be faced. In any organisation, the interaction with the customers has to engrossing. It should be such that customers or people get the answers that they seek on the social networking site. However, there have been instances where large-scale companies have failed to understand the importance of effective interaction. The other competitor of Starbucks is MacDonald. The international communication of the company is often claimed to be strong and efficient. The SWOT analysis of the same is as follow: Strength- In case of MacDonalds it is found that the communication strategies of the company are very strong. Apart from the usual social media presence, it is observed that the communication strategy of the staffs in the stores is strong of the company. In most of the cases in case of any confusion and suggestion, the employees of the company are prompt in interacting with the customers. This is one the USP of the brand that is found globally (Goetsch and Davis 2014). This is one of the unique communication marketing strategies of MacDonalds that is favoured by customers. In the social media sites there has been issue projected regarding quality issues of the company. However, the organisation has been tactful in resolving the issues so that customers are not offended of the replies. Weakness- The weakness of the company is the false interaction that is at times provided to the customers. There have been instances when false information has been communicated to the customers. Apart from this, the quality information that is shared on the social media site is at times wrong. The issue must be resolved by the organisation and proper quality products should be offered. However, on social media sites customers have been harassed claiming that the quality issue information has been wrong (Smith 2013). Opportunity The opportunity of the organisation lies in the global network that is created. The marketing strategy of the organisation should include more interaction with the suppliers, customers and the franchise. This would help in profit generation and the success of the company. MacDonald must also try to create innovative process of communication like live presence on Facebook. There could be live chat as well that would create the presence of the organisation more strong. Threat - The major threat of the organisation concerning communication is the absence of proper answer from senior management in case of any issue. It is mostly found that in case of issue relating to quality of products it is important to create a communication with the management. This makes the problem of the customer or client reachable internationally. Merely giving an answer on any of the social media site may not serve the purpose of integrity (Kesavan, Bernacchi and Mascarenhas 2013). Visitors might feel that their issues are unheard or might not carry the essence that is crucial. Communication practices of Costa Coffee and MacDonalds MacDonald In modern business times, electronic business communications plays a key role in determining the success of the organizations. The organization Macdonald implements different means of electronic business communication in order to communicate with all its respective stakeholders. The organization effectively uses the tool of social media, email, video conferencing and mobile devices to communicate with all their respective internal and external stakeholders. The success of the business depends on meeting the requirements of all their respective internal and external stakeholders. Due to this reason, it is of crucial importance for the modern business organizations to provide all the necessary information to all their internal and external stakeholders in an effective manner (Allen 2015). The external stakeholders are mainly communicated with the help of social media, email, etc. On the other hand, the internal stakeholders are communicated with the help of mobile phone, email, video c onferencing, etc. Non-electronic means of communication includes letters, invoices, flow charts and verbal means of communication. Due to popularity of electronic means of communication, the non-electronic mode has lost its charm largely. However, the organization communicates with the help of invoices with its suppliers and employees with the help of verbal means of communication (Strauss 2016). Costa Coffee The usual form of communication of the company is through websites. However, the communication of the company with the customers is not prominent. They outlay of the website is not vibrant or attractive. The interlinking of the videos with the social media is not fruitful there have been times when the company has missed it. Moreover, it is found that the company does not include live chats or videos that fail to create the importance of interaction (Schivinski and Dabrowski 2015). Finally, it might be said that the company provides bills in non-electronic communication. However, they do not provide invoice that is given by companies like MacDonald. Suggestions and recommendations One of the most important factors that have been understood by the CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz is the fact that being an quintessential experience the company is always inclined towards maintaining a healthy relationship with the customers. This is ensured with the help of communication strategy. Along with the social media presence and blogs, the company should try to take few other steps that would assure the fit communication strategy of the company. The first recommendation should be the fact of sharing authentic information with the people. In case of videos that is shared on YouTube or any blogs the promises must not be superficial. This would assure the customers quality management of the brand. Customers around the world must be satisfied for being associated with the company. The second recommendation to the company would to manage in playful conversation with people globally. This is one of the recent strategies that are taken up by many internal brands. People think they are important as company takes the initiative to speak on one-on-one sessions. Brand loyalty is enhanced with this step. The third recommendation may be building a mascot or a figure that might be associated with the brand. The communication of the people might be strengthened with the identification of the character. The mascot may be presented in the stores and they take communicate with the visitors through non-verbal communication. This would help in creating a brand value. The advertisements or the commercials of Starbucks may be more effective. They could carry a social message of the charity that they can do with some amount of every coffee that consumers buy. This would help the customers to interact with the company and they will feel that they are helping the society at large. The communication is fostered through this process. Conclusion It may be said that communication strategies of Starbucks has been fostered over the years. The presence and the efficiency have been positive. It has been noticed that the presence of Starbucks on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook has been pivotal. Apart from this the videos of different ways of coffee and tea production has been informative for the customers. In case of the non-electronic communication, the crucial aspect is the contact details, which could be reached by the customers. However, the company should ensure some necessary steps. The recommendation is to make more powerful commercials that are relatable to the customers. The message through the commercials would act as the perfect interaction with the customers. Apart from this, the company must entertain the grievance and the issues relating to service and quality. This is to assure the brand loyalty and value in front of the prospective customers. Reference list Allen, M., 2015.Strategic communication for sustainable organizations: Theory and practice. Springer. Beach, L.R., 2014.Decision making in the workplace: A unified perspective. Psychology Press. Bey, N., Hauschild, M.Z. and McAloone, T.C., 2013. Drivers and barriers for implementation of environmental strategies in manufacturing companies.CIRP Annals-Manufacturing Technology,62(1), pp.43-46. Colleoni, E., 2013. CSR communication strategies for organizational legitimacy in social media.Corporate Communications: an international journal,18(2), pp.228-248. 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