Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz is lamenting the erosion of the ‘romance and theatre’ that created the Starbucks experience. I must admit that while it has evidently been on the menu a while, I just noticed their Egg McMuffin-like creation, which along with drive-throughs and automated espresso machines, suggests "fast food" – hardly the experience that made me and millions more avid Starbucks fans.
Mr. Schultz is astutely recognizing that people buy with all of their senses – making intuitive decisions with their body-minds. It’s a fact that our bodies interpret numberless influences from our environment and run those through our minds – the software – that checks them against countless memories and desires. The result is the ‘gut’ decision that is frequently more accurate than the logical one. Of course, we are able to override these internal signals, which is why it takes time for the brand to both erode and grow in the first place. Yet, at some point we make a new decision to go in a new direction.
I love the ‘romance and theatre’ word choice. How do you get to that level with your business? You recognize it’s the small things that make a big difference because they all add up to that multi-sensory experience that either works or doesn’t. I predict Starbucks will make things right because the most important factor is having the awareness in the first place. That accomplished, you always need to reevaluate the current environment and reconcile your companies place in it with respect to your customers buying behavior – which is a shaped by memories and desires. You have to go beyond products and services to the true nature of your customer if you are to understand why they buy and how to attract more folks like them.
