Your Web Site
Executive Summary: After building a great franchise offering a unique customer experience, Starbucks diluted its brand when it overexpanded and offered too many new products. Harvard Business School professor John Quelch thinks the trouble began when the company went public. Key concepts include: The pressures of being a public company convinced Starbucks executives it needed to open more locations and offer more products, diluting the special customer experience it had created. Starbucks is now a mass brand attempting to command a premium price for an experience that is no longer special. Some premium brands deliberately decide to stay private to maintain control. About Faculty in this Article: John A. Quelch is the Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Editor's Note: Harvard... [read full story]
