Now that it is going away, we’re devastated.

As many of you know, I will occasionally ask if you would miss a specific company if it went out-of-business tomorrow. (It’s part of my Would You Miss series inspired by the book, MAVERICKS AT WORK.) The question is totally hypothetical, but the answers you’ve given are highly emotional.

This “Would You Miss” question is a great one to ask of any business because it tells us how well we have formed relationships with our customers. If a business has formed unfailing relationships with its customers, then customers would truly care if that company went out of business. On the other hand, if a business hasn’t formed meaningful bonds with customers, then customers wouldn’t care if that business ceased to exist.

With the recent announcement of Starbucks Coffee closing 600 under-performing locations, we get to witness this “Would You Miss” question in action. If the SaveOurStarbucks.com website is any indication, lots of people will miss Starbucks when their location is closed.

Now that Starbucks Corp. has disclosed the 600 locations it wants to shutter, a phenomenon is taking hold: the Save Our Starbucks campaign.

In towns as small as Bloomfield, N.M., and metropolises as large as New York, customers and city officials are starting to write letters, place phone calls, circulate petitions and otherwise plead with the coffee company to change its mind.

"Now that it's going away, we're devastated," said Kate Walker, a facilities manager for software company SunGard Financial Systems who recently learned of a store closing in New York City. [SOURCE: Wall Street Journal article]

Wow! “Now that it is going away, we’re devastated.” That’s the best thing a company could hope to hear from customers when it is dealing with severe business issues. Hmm ... would your customers be DEVASTATED if your business closed up shop?

Comments

[patmcgraw]

I think Starbucks (and all companies) should be more interested in why the majority of the target audience elected not to support the business.

Great - the small segment of the target audience that did support the locations are 'devastated'.

But what about the larger segment of the target audience that didn't support the site? Where were they going for coffee? Or have they sworn off the java and moved on to other beverages?

Too many unanswered questions...and more interesting discussions and decisions to come from the folks at Starbucks.

[john moore (from Brand Autopsy)]

Pat ... many of the issues causing SBUX customers to go elsewhere have been diagnosed and the prescription has been written.

As far as where coffee consumers are going if they aren't going to SBUX, well ... we know they ain't going to McDonald's. According to the Wall Street Journal today, "McDonald's sales data suggest that these specialty coffee drinks, now in at least 1,700 locations, aren't selling well. A chart of the six major areas where the company is selling the drinks shows that sales in most markets peaked about three weeks after the drinks launched, then declined in the following weeks, in some cases sharply, according to company documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. In Kansas City, Mo., for instance, the average number of specialty coffee drinks sold per restaurant peaked in early December at 359. As of the last week in June, that average had fallen to 217."

[John DeCesaro]

This devastation theory also applies to crafting marketing messages and uncovering hidden loyalty. Consumers are not always aware of the level of loyatly they have for a product until they face losing it. When crafting messages, one should consider addressing what life would be like without one's product.

Maybe some companies can tap into that loyalty to avoid challenging periods, instead of learning about it during such periods.

[barchbo]

I noted that the SBUX location near your old high school was closing and was amazed that there was one there. Perusing the list of closures, I saw some that some had inaccessible/bad parking (SOCO), strong local competition (again, SOCO) and some that were in areas where most of the population wouldn't even go to SBUX because of perceived ideas about brand/expense (good old Dal-Rich Village) I noted one specific closure that I don't frequent because it's just easier for me to go to...another SBUX.

Streamlining is good. Let's see what happens! Great post.

[Bernhard]

I really like your "Would you miss" series and I have been thinking about this question recently.

The problem for businesses when answering this question is that nobody wants to hear "No" as the answer.

But if you are truly able to say "Yes" our customers would miss us, you have created something bigger: your company (brand) gives meaning to people.

[DUST!N]

I agree that any brand would love to hear people were devastated to lose them. Our organization would love that level of appreciation. We're not there yet.

Concerning McD's coffee (not to derail the main point of the post), I tried it when given coupons for free coffee. Didn't care for it. Definitely won't pay their premium price for it. The iced coffee was the worst. They even used the same huge ice cubes as go into their soft drinks. Not ideal in the least.

I'd be interested in a taste test done w/McD coffee in Starbucks cups and vice-versa. I think McD's coffee would still be panned.

[miro slodki]

I think this is an exceptional rorschach test for brands
to see how many of their customers really care

and of course the flip side being - how many of the brands took the time to create that kind of following

Perhaps the best example of this are the Burger King commercials capturing customer reactions to the 'fact' that they are no longer selling the "Whopper"

In SBux case - this really isn't the end of anything per se - rather its a realignment/rationalization of store footprint - the cost to consumers is simply convenience.

cheers
Miro
http://miroslodki.wordpress.com

[johnm]

If anyone here thinks that the demise of 600 sbux shoppes is due to McD, you should not be in marketing at all. SBUX oversaturated the market with shoppes. They have a specific audience and they assumed it was underserved and added shoppes at a time when things were good. they thought they could pick up the DND and the MCD person, but they buy coffee at a drive through and do not look for the experience.

Darwinian theary holds out - even at a micro level.

[john moore (from Brand Autopsy)]

johnm ... ain't no one here thinking or saying SBUX is closing shops because of McDonald's.

I brought up McDonald's and the recent news their coffee business isn't doing so well to help add context to an earlier comment asking where people are going if they aren't going to SBUX.

[Francis Fay]

A recent visit back to the US allowed me to view the Starbucks store closing with some new, and I believe, interesting perspective. I encountered a wide range of people who seemed to have a smug satisfaction in noting that Starbucks had to close stores. Overall, these were not the core Starbucks customer, as they were generally infrequent visitors. However, all were coffee drinkers, and seemed pleased to see that Starbucks' star had fallen a bit. Whether they were jealous of the success of the company, tired of the omnipresence of the location and the brand loyalists, or just people who did not like the coffee, seemed rather irrelevant. When any company is a successful as Starbucks has been, there is a tendency for Americans to relish in the downfall of the mighty. This attitude is important for companies to remember. Americans like the underdog. Remember that Bill Gates originally was applauded by the computer programmers who thought he was "sticking it" to the ruling computing class. Once Microsoft become the ruling class, they became the target.

I believe that companies such as Starbucks should focus on effectively narrowcasting their products and marketing efforts. Companies such as Honda, Apple, Sam Adams beer, Harley Davidson, and others, maximize their brand and profitability within a space, but are careful about overexposing themselves to the blind ambition of being #1 in placements or revenue. Starbucks profitability is likely based more upon the customer like me (3-5 visits per week, food 1-2x, beans every week) than competing with Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, or others.