I have been enjoying some down time during evenings this week and getting caught up on some much needed reading. This week it is Onward by Howard Schultz, chairman, Starbucks. Note the lower case title. That is how they do it at Starbucks. They do a lot of others things at Starbucks that create brand champions around the world through on-brand experiences. Let me see, I have two meetings at Starbucks today, followed by three more tomorrow. Combined with the three I have already had this week, that makes a total of eight.
Champions of the Starbucks brand visit a store on average, 18 times a month. I am doing my best to keep the numbers up. And so are many more. I read yesterday that after McDonald's and Subway, Starbucks is the third largest fast service business. I know they do not like being compared to these types of brands, and I would not do so, save for making the point that the Starbucks brand gets. Like those others do. However, I anticipate that Starbucks employees and customers are prouder to admit being a brand champion more freely than do those for McDonald's.
Whether you like the brand or not, I encourage you to give Onward a shot because you will learn something about your brand. You might even think about it being required reading for your staff. I am enjoying the transparency of the material and the day-in-the-life style of the writing. Howard Schultz is indeed one of the brand icons.
Nice topic and post, as we were just talking about what things can happen in the medicine industry.
Posted by: MBT Online | August 02, 2011 at 05:32 AM