Who got Starbucked?

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Taylor Clark’s STARBUCKED: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culture is receiving lots of positive ink. The Wall Street Journal loved it. As did the San Francisco Chronicle. It’s being positioned loftily as a “Part Fast Food Nation, part Bobos in Paradise” treatise on coffee and capitalism.

Taylor’s book is interesting reading but not necessarily mandatory reading for business folk and cultural studies folk. He traces the Starbucks story well from its inception in 1971 to its impact in 2007. However, it lacks punch.

(Keep in mind, I’m very close to this story having spent my formative marketing years working at Starbucks Coffee as well as written a book about what I think makes Starbucks a successful business.)

In expected alt-weekly journalism fashion, Taylor, a former writer with Portland’s Willamette Week alt-weekly, runs down the same old story of Starbucks opportunistic and capitalist ways.

Yes, Starbucks is hyper-competitive. Yes, Starbucks seeks prime real estate locations. Yes, Starbucks could do more to support coffee farmers. Yes, Starbucks added sizzle to the experience of drinking coffee. Yes, the familiarity of Starbucks brings about opinions of homogenization. Yes, Starbucks charges an ungodly premium for its coffee drinks. Yes, Starbucks has a strong corporate culture ethos. That we know.

While I found much of Taylor’s book to cover well-trodden territory, he managed to talk with lots of former Starbucks executive heavies. And the quotes these ex-Starbucks higher-ups shared with Taylor are at times fascinating. I wasn’t expecting to read such sulliable and ego-laden quotes. Which leaves me wondering if these past Starbucks execs weren’t Starbucked.

Taylor caught Howard Behar, former big-time Starbucks exec and current Starbucks board member, with some choice comments When asked about Howard Schultz’s vision of selling espresso beverages back when relatively few people could pronounce it, much less enjoy the taste of it, Behar is quoted as saying, “Howard will always say he knew this would work, but he’s full of shit. We didn’t know how it would turn out.” (p. 53)

When the topic of Tom O’Keefe, founder of regional coffee competitor Tully’s, comes up, Behar is quoted as blurting out an emphatic, “Fuck him.”(p. 128) And when Behar talks about critics referring to the taste of Starbucks coffee as burnt, he’s quoted as saying, “What used to piss me off was when they’d say ‘Charbucks.’ That’s like walking into a gallery and saying, ‘Your art is shitty.’” (p. 70)

Scott Bedbury, former Starbucks Marketing VP, provided Taylor with some choice fodder as well. In talking about the role quality espresso drinks play at Starbucks, Bedbury is quoted as saying, “To be honest, you could train a monkey to pull a double-shot. It’s just not that hard.” (p.88)

Engle Saez, another former Starbucks Marketing VP, shared some candid comments about Starbucks true competitive advantage. Taylor quotes Saez as saying, “Starbucks doesn’t have a lockdown patent on the environment; it doesn’t have a lockdown patent on the experience; and it doesn’t have a lockdown patent on the bean or the roast. All of those things can be duplicated. So what it comes down to is the dominance of real estate. That’s the one area where no one can out muscle Starbucks.” (p. 115)

You’ll have to read the book to take in more choice candid comments from past Starbucks players. Starbucks insiders will get a kick outta how Taylor portrays former Starbucks Real Estate head Arthur Rubinfeld. (Oh my.)

Taylor and I actually spoke some months ago when he was in the process of writing STARBUCKED. I do not recall much about the conversation we had except the writer seemed young and guarded about the angle he was taking with the book. The quotes Taylor includes in the book from me are benign. Then again, I’ve already shared lots of pointed comments about Starbucks on this blog and Taylor had many former executive-level Starbucks people eager to riff about the company they once worked for.

Kudos to Taylor Clark for getting ex-Starbucks folks to open up and share some off-brand and at times, acrimonious remarks. I’m sure some of these folks will not be pleased with how they are portrayed.

As far as STARBUCKED being a book business enthusiasts would find worthwhile, I don’t think so. Just not enough business knowledge nuggets for us business wonks to learn from. However, the cultural studies crowd might find this book somewhat worthwhile … just not near as worthwhile as Fast Food Nation or Bobos in Paradise.

Comments

[Dan Schawbel]

I like the "real estate" quote John. Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds both think like that as well. It's good to be diverse in investments, as well as claim more assets to offset losses.

[Paul Rubillo]

Dan's comment about Real Estate is right. In South Jersey Wawa's are like 7-eleven's. They are so keen on finding the right location. So if you're looking for Commercial Real Estate, be sure you are not too far from some of these companies mentioned.

[Chris Johnson]

This is what I wrote--and right now their conceit is costing them people pretty quickly. Share price tanked? Because Starbucks gave up all the trust, and exchanged it for Akeliah and the Bee.

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

That's a nice riff Chris.

Reminds me of the advice "Starbucks customers" shared in the WHAT MUST STARBUCKS DO? manifesto.

[Leora Krygier]

What's more fascinating to me about Starbucks is not whether the company is a corporate ogre or angel, but rather its continuing, social impact. Regular customers and drop-ins alike form a fascinating microcosm of our new ethos, which demands infinite choice, yet craves familiarity.