It’s a strange feeling that you have when you’re walking down the streets and suddenly perceive that one of your favourite boutiques has been replaced by one of the many chain stores. Slowly but surely, globalization will invade the entire world.
But we’re not the only one who are fretting about that phenomenon. Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, also worried about the loss of ‘the soul of the past’ and ‘the warm feeling of the neighbourhood stores’. That’s why he has created a new stealth strategy for his chain store. It consists of rebranding the existing Starbucks’ stores to give them different names and more local similarity.
Howard Schultz was definitely not the first who has thought about this strategy. McDonald f. ex. Succeeds in Asian countries thanks to its alternative menus based on local eating habits. Coca Cola came to India in the 90’s and convinced the people, in the local languages, that Coca Cola was originating from there.
It’s certain that Starbucks will certainly not be the last company applying this strategy. Many will follow. But will it make a company more cultural? I don’t think. I believe local people will still prefer the warm feeling of the neighbourhood stores to the artificial ‘local’ chain store.
Caroline Latour
the stealth of Starbucks
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