The Starbucks Experience

You wake up in the morning. Another boring day. You get out of home all dressed to go to work. On the way, you stop at the regular coffee-house. “Morning John.. the usual please.” You are greeted by a warm smile and a couple of minutes later, you have your tall latte de-fatted soy milk sugar free cold with whip and vanilla.

A touch of warmth and kindness is a beautiful way to begin a day. And this is what the Starbucks partners (a.k.a employees) strive to create. “The Starbucks Experience”, authored by Joseph A. Michelli is a book on principles for turning businesses from ordinary into extraordinary using Starbucks as a base model.

If you d0 not understand the branding language, here are some facts that can make you go ga-ga-

If you had invested $10000 in the Starbucks IPO on the Nasdaq in 1992, your investment would have been worth approximately $650,000 two years ago.

What struck me as awesome was the fact that the principles are simple and not some of the management gibberish we study, in every B school. They can be employed in real life too. They are results-oriented and can be deceptively powerful when employed:

• Make it your own
• Everything matters
• Surprise and delight
• Embrace resistance
• Leave your mark

Simple strategies that can facilitate a huge turn-around. Try it out and do write back.

Enjoy your latte!

I got bitten !!!!

A philosophy that sounds so simple and yet tough to follow. Love and respect. This book is all about a revolutionary way to move businesses. It completely attacks the conventional mannerisms of business-houses.

“Brands are running out of juice.” They are everywhere and are cluttered. All advertising agencies are trying to break this clutter by coming up with points of differentiation for all.

Result: We end up getting sucked into this game of creativity and make purchases without a reason.

But, there’s got to be a solution to this and Lovemarks provides the route to a brand’s successful future. If we treat a brand with love and respect, it becomes powerful and gains loyalty. Loyalty beyond reason by its consumer due to unconditional love delivered by the brand.

I read this book two weeks ago and thought to myself, “It sure looks good on paper. It might not work.” So I gave it a shot. For two weeks, I have been making an effort to treat all brands I handle with love and look at them as something more than a mere account.

New ideas to enhance the brand value has been flowing throughout and also ended up getting a lot of work done! Next milestone is to read the sequel to this book: The Lovemarks effect – Winning in the consumer revolution.