Why do I like Starbucks?

For the coffee?- No, not really, OR better said, NOT ONLY.

It is THE EXPERIENCE. The experience that makes me feel good about myself and gives me comfort. There is always something familiar, something soothing entering a Starbucks store.

When I'm on a business trip, I know I can go there and have breakfast with my favorite grande caramel macchiato and lemon cake- this gives me peace of mind to start the day.

While sightseeing in a city, I know I can go at the Starbucks coffee shop to take a rest, check my Lonely planet book and move on. This gives me comfort.

I came across this brilliantly written blog, "What story are you selling?" and then I thought, "Which story is Starbucks selling?". You ask Starbucks, you'll get their answer, you ask me, you will hear my answer, you ask 1000 other people, you hear their perceptions about the Starbucks brand- I guess there might be some decent overlap...

Here is what I think: Starbucks is selling the story of comfort and self-love.

The next thought that crosses my mind is the Golden circle of Simon Sinek- "...people believe what you believe in." The story Starbucks is telling, starts with the Why, followed by How and lastly the What from the Golden Circle, just like Simon Sinek describes it. Watch this glorious TED talk and figure out for yourself!

Now, as I write this blog, I might be a bit biased as I'm reading "Pour your heart into it- how Starbucks built a company one cup at a time". But the matter of the fact is that I liked Starbucks 13 ago when I first lived in the US. I wrote a paper about their internationalization strategy for a class during my MBA. I made a strong assumption that they will go ahead very aggressively with their international expansion and we would see their stores in Istanbul and Milan (places with very strong coffee culture, perceived to be superior to the American coffee culture by far). I believed in Starbrucks! I remember that I actually wanted to work for Starbucks! Ha! Pity I didn't pursue that dream...Honestly, how much did I know about their strategy back then? How much did I understand any of that business 13 years ago....

But I loved the experience at their stores and I loved their story or what I believed to be their story. And I bought into it wholeheartedly. No regrets. During a 13 year-journey as a customer.

Now off to search that paper I wrote in grad school...