How many brands can you think of that could comfortably be known by consumers purely by their logo alone?
There are probably quite a few that spring to mind, but perhaps none would be so bold as Starbucks. The world’s largest coffee chain has ditched its name in an effort to brew up new revenue streams like food and other items that appeal to more people, more of the time.
It seems having the words ‘coffee’ in their logo was too limiting, and so following in the footsteps of Volvo, Sony, Nike and Apple, the Starbucks siren is sailing solo ready for the company’s expansion into other business arenas.
You’ve got to admit that Starbucks is a pretty recognisable logo. After all, they say, we don’t need to remind you that our roots are in coffee. We sell lots of other stuff too, you know, it’s all part and parcel of the Starbucks premium movement experience.
Starbucks’ plan for domination of our discretionary spending has become more evident since it announced a major marketing push for its little-known brand, Seattle’s Best Coffee, the first in the brand’s history, which is being stewarded by Seattle’s own agency Creative, led by former StrawberryFroggers Jim and Matt.
The campaign will apparently focus on its mission of ‘bringing coffee to wherever you are.’ Starbucks’ less-posh but more youthful sibling is aiming itself purely at those who want premium coffee, without the need for a premium experience, thus competing with regular mainstream coffee outlets to which value-conscious customers have turned.
There is a lot of action in coffee these days. StrawberryFrog launched Café Switch for Sara Lee with a digital campaign taking off The Office.
It’s a very clever move – buying from Seattle’s Best Coffee ensures your dollars still end up in Starbucks’ cash register, you just won’t know it.
So will any more brands take a sip from Starbucks’ cup and ditch their name? Target is following suit, but apparently it has been quietly stripping its name from the bullseye logo for quite some time. I guess that’s the test. If you don’t notice it when it’s gone, then the words weren’t needed in the first place.
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