Starbucks Marketing Plan

Problem:

Due to the presence of more coffee love and the increased popularity of the drinks as social

media has increased the customers' awareness about the drinks and the coffee, a great

opportunity is present in the coffee and brewing industry. Moreover, the demand for coffee

products with speed and availability requires the coffee café and brewing industry to have a more

diverse approach to accessing the customers. However, the number of cafés is very limited with

the higher rent and operational costs.

Opportunity:

A great opportunity is present for Starbucks to introduce mobile coffee trucks in order to have

more easy access to the customers. Though the company already had tried to provide access to

coffee products to college students in the US, however, this idea wasn't much appreciated by the

customers. There are a number of reasons why the coffee truck wasn't popular with Starbucks.

The first reason is the presence of the product line in the past which required a high compressed

nitrogen level for the regular cold brew. Such equipment on the coffee truck was feasible; as a

result, the company halted these operations. However, with the development of the company

product line, there are a number of drinks introduced by the company. Moreover, with the

development of the company and technological aspects, the opportunity for the company to have

a mobile nitro-cold brew machine is greater than in the past. Moreover, the company doesn't

provide franchising with the company café, and there are only licensed cafes; therefore, the

mobile trucks are a greater opportunity for the customers, and the business spends less cost on
operational costs. Under these aspects, there are strong opportunities present in the market for the

coffee trucks that Starbucks can target effectively.

SWOT analysis of the mobile truck industry:

Strength:

The strength of the food and coffee trucks is presented as below:

 Experienced staff: There is a huge level of experienced staff present in the market which

is looking for flexible working hours in the market. Since the local staff is present in the

market, they are able to provide valuable expertise to the company.

 Higher brand recognition: The food and coffee truck has higher opportunities if they

belong to a specific brand. The reputation of the company can be increased if the brand

tries to get into the market with more diverse and innovative operations.

 Lower cost product: The product cost from the food and coffee truck is lower as

compared to the formal brick and mortar café style branches. In this way, the company

can effectively provide the customer with a very low-cost product.

Weakness:

 Limited capital: For a coffee truck, there is a limited amount of capital present, which

means not a lot of innovations can be part of the coffee truck which means the limited

capital can halt the growth of the truck.

 Lack of coverage: Even though the purpose of the coffee truck is to increase access to the

customers, however, there is possible that the trucks might not be able to reach all the

targeted destinations. In this way, the purpose of these trucks is compromised.

Opportunities:

 Emerging business: Coffee truck is an emerging business which means the company can

get benefit from the popularity of the business.

 New products: The consumers can be provided with new products which are different

from their regular taste. As a result, the company can have more customer attraction.

Threat:

 Legal requirement: There are many rules and regulations present in some countries

related to food trucks; as a result, these laws might affect the operations.

 Duplication of idea: The coffee trucks are a very easy business model for duplication, and

therefore, the innovation in the business will no longer exist.

In the presence of such factors, it can be stated that the coffee truck idea for the company can

only be successful when they are able to mitigate the weakness and get benefit from the threats

present in the industry.

Financial analysis:

The financial analysis of the coffee truck provides that the expenditure of the company will be

incurred on the cost of the truck, the products and the wage rate of the employee working on

them. In this way, the company can reduce the cost that is incurred on the structured restaurant or

café.

Marketing plan:

Market segment: the market segment of the coffee truck will be middle-class millennials who are

working people and therefore are looking for rapid and easy access to their coffee.
Positioning strategy: the food trucks will be placed near different public areas, which can move

during the less busy hours. The location of these places includes college campus, medical

campus, busy commercial area and other such busy places.

Branding strategy: the branding strategy of the coffee truck will include the attractive truck

model in kiosk and graphics, website marketing and social media marketing. The company can

also decide to provide a mobile app for marketing purposes through which the customers can

place an order.

Since there is a lot of pressure present from the structured café and restaurant, therefore, use of

an attractive market strategy will provide the company to face the competition effectively.

Management structure: The hiring of the employees will be based on internal hiring since there

are a number of experienced employees present in the company. Therefore the company can

manage to promote them to the coffee truck. The management that will provide the services to

the employees includes the kitchen and brewing staff and the customer services, staff. The

handling of the trucks will be done with the local branch of Starbucks. Since the company

doesn't provide the franchise, the license based trucks can be initiated.

Alternative: the alternative of the marketing strategy can include participation in the food and

coffee festival, presence near the part and most significant the menu can be alternated according

to the requirements of the customers.

Conclusion:

The mobile coffee truck business can provide the customers with the values like fast speed

services and convenience; therefore, the chances of the success of the mobile coffee trucks are

also high.