When a commodity is being positioned as a brand, it is normally beset with much impossibility; but when this approach is saddled with the primary consideration of ubiquity, it makes for a winning combination. This article looks at the genesis and growing presence of branded coffeeStarbucks.

In real sense, coffee is no more than a commodity. You can get it at a café or a restaurant (in India, we can get it at roadside shops or at railway stations also). Starbucks has reinvented coffee as a whole new experience and, in the process, has created a hugely successful brand having presence in over 37 countries with 100,000 employees and 35 million satisfied customers. Since it went public in 1992, its stock has gone up by more than 6400%!

How does one explain the success of Starbucks as a brand which has become an icon of contemporary society? How does one reconcile its growth in such a short time, considering the fact that its advertising spend in 10 years was a meager $10 mn, which a similar global brand like Coca-Cola spends in less than a day?

The answer for the great success of Starbucks lies in the lasting relationships it builds with its millions of customers everywhere it operatesin diverse geographical regions and cultural settingsbe it in the US, the UK, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Kuwait or now in China, which will soon become Starbucks' biggest market outside the US.

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