As we attempt to get back to some kind of normalcy after the global pandemic, we can count two trends that will help Starbucks introduce their protein infused coffee to the world. One is that globally an average person drinks 42.6 liters of coffee annually (healthcareers.com, 2020) and that the majority of people worldwide are looking to live healthier lives through exercise and proper dieting. (rsginc.net, 2019) As these trends continue Starbucks will start offering protein infused coffee in select markets worldwide. The objective of Starbucks protein infused coffee beverages it to attract new, health conscience customers to the Starbucks brand and also give our current customers new, exciting and great tasting products to help them reach their health and fitness goals. The market research that we have conducted is in line with these objectives because we have surveyed current customers and people that are not yet customers of Starbucks. We focused on affluent cities and towns with higher median incomes in order to ensure that the customers have disposable income to enjoy all our products. The beauty of this new product is that it is age and gender neutral as is fitness. This product can be enjoyed by anyone from a professional athlete to someone that is just getting into diet and fitness, and people ranging from 18 years of age to 65 years plus. The reason that the population sample is so big, is becasuse we are in so many countries and this product can appeal to such a wide demographic of consumers.
Coffee has been enjoyed by consumers for many years, and its popularity keeps increasing. We are always coming up with new beverages, limited edition and seasonal drinks, as do our competitors. This keeps consumers happy and wanting to try more of our products. This trend shows no signs of slowing down, and as the living healthier trend continues worldwide, we can continue to see an increased demand for these types of beverages. As long as we continue to innovate new flavors with our consumers goals in mind, we should be able to stay ahead of other coffee houses and juice bars in terms of taste and variety.
Starbucks ethical standards are very high, from sourcing coffee sustainably to committing to “carbon neural green coffee using 50% less water by 2030” (stories.starbucks.com, 2021), Starbucks is committed to helping the environment and making sure that the coffee beans are sourced sustainably and legally. Our marketing campaign will be held to these same standards. Since we offer sustainable coffee then the protein powder that we use, both animal and vegan, will be held to the same standard. We will work tirelessly with our suppliers to offer products that will meet our high standards, since we will be promoting them as such. We will also not make false promises about the effectiveness of our products, for example we will not promise excessive weight loss by dinking our protein infused coffee or promise that you will become a bodybuilder overnight. The purpose of our product is to help consumers reach their health goals with proper diet and exercise, and that is how it will be promoted. When it comes to legal aspects of our product, we will make sure that the products used are legal in all countries and we will look for alternatives it in ones that it is not allowed. We will also make sure that we do not insinuate that our product can be used to diagnose, treat, or cure any illness or diseases. By staying honest and not using any marketing gimmicks we will be in line with industry, ethical, and legal marketing practices.
Even a global company like Starbucks will have its limitations when it comes to research for new products and services. The biggest limitation is the sheer size of the population sample. I know that it sounds like an oxymoron but with a global company this size you will be hard-pressed to find someone that has not heard of them or has an opinion of them. When this happens you have a population sample that is mostly bias, one way or another. This will limit the amount of true data that is not bias, especially when trying to launch a new product. This is why in this case industry and global trends are so important to follow and is also the reason why the survey we created is very simple and easy to answer. We did everything we could to try to keep the questions in form and try to take any consumer bias out of the mix.
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