Starbucks-Apple partnership

Recently i read an article about the partnership between Apple.inc and Starbucks. What i read was that Starbucks partnered with Apple to collaborate on selling music as part of the "coffee house experience". In October 2006, Apple added a Starbucks Entertainment area to the iTunes Store, selling music similar to that played in Starbucks stores. In September 2007, Apple announced that there would be wireless communication between the iTunes Store and Starbucks via AT&T with no requirement to be an AT&T subscriber, targeted at iPhone, iPod Touch and Macbook users. The iTunes store will automatically detect recent songs playing in a Starbucks and offer users the opportunity to download the tracks. This feature has been rolled out in Seattle, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and was offered to limited markets during 2007-2008. During the fall of 2007, Starbucks also began to sell digital downloads of certain albums through iTunes. Starbucks gave away 37 different songs for free download through iTunes as part of the 'Song of the Day' promotion in 2007, and a 'Pick of the Week' card is now available at Starbucks for a free download. I feel that this is a very good plan by Starbucks and Apple, coffee drinkers of Starbucks can now bring the experience home or anywhere they go and Apple also has a chance to advertise themselves and get some profit.

The ever welcoming and comfortable Starbucks

From what I experienced every time I visit Starbucks coffee houses, other than the comfortable environment and delicious coffee, another thing I love about Starbucks is their ever friendly, efficient and sociable staff. They are very polite, friendly, and welcoming; they would greet you when you step in the coffee house and they would ask you politely what your order would be for the day, besides that if you are still deciding, they would just wait patiently until you have made up your mind. I find these qualities rare in other places, very, very rare. I think that this is a quality that is unique for Starbucks, this is a very good way to get customers to keep on coming over n over again, and customers will feel welcome, warm, and comfortable. This quality of Starbucks can be found in every Starbucks coffee house. That day I decided to head to Starbucks in Dataran Pahlawan shopping complex in Malacca and it was the same there, the staffs were very friendly, entertaining and welcoming. I totally enjoy my visits to Starbucks coffee houses. =)

Starbucked

Recently I read a book on Starbucks called "Starbucked" by author Taylor Clark. The book tells about how Starbucks started out to be a small coffee shop and finally becoming the most popular coffee shop all around the world. The book also tells about what strategy plans and risks Starbucks took in order to achieve what they have achieved today. I remember one particular story about how Starbucks solved their business problem by coming up with an at first seemed crazy but later turned out to be an amazing and successful plan. During the early days of Starbucks, there was once where they were broke and they still had their rent to pay. So, the boss came up with an ingenious idea. Guess what he did? he actually opened up another Starbucks coffee house just directly opposite the original coffee house. People would think, "is he crazy?". But he did this with a motive. Why did he open 2 Starbucks coffee houses directly opposite each other? 1st reason was to provide convenience to their customers. For example, people traveling from this side of the street can conveniently visit the coffee house at that side while customers traveling from the other side of the street can visit the other. 2nd reason was to attract different kinds of customers. the 1st coffee house seemed to attract high class customers and hence that coffee house' atmosphere was more professional looking, while the other was to attract more casual customers, that coffee house was build in a very comfortable fashion where people can sit down, enjoy their coffee and socialize. I feel that this is a very ingenious idea that helped propelled Starbucks to stardom. This move by Starbucks have given me the inspiration to take risks and believe in myself in whatever I do.

Dates and Time

As all Starbucks coffee drinkers know, Starbucks comes out with new and beautiful planners every year. I have the 2008 as well as the 2009 planner. Both have been my favorite planners I have ever bought. Inside the planner, besides the usual calenders and pages for notes, Starbucks included beautiful and simple illustrations of their coffee houses, Starbucks, Malaysia's birthday is also marked down on the planners which is in 17th December. Without further ado, let me show you the planners =)

2009 on the left and 2008 on the right...

inside the 2008 planner...

the 2009 planner...inside

The passport to coffee country!!

From my personal experience, Starbucks is a really comfortable place not only for drinking a cup of delicious coffee. It is also an excellent place to socialize with different people, even the occasional foreigners. From socializing, we get to know more about people around us and people from other countries. Besides coffee, people go there to get connected. I personally remember that at one time, Starbucks had this Coffee Passport for their coffee drinkers. It was for them to record down each and every one of their coffee drinking experiences, not only locally, but also abroad. In the passport, they had some information on certain countries on how they roast their coffee and how it would taste, it also has information on different styles of roasting, for example, Espresso Roast, Italian Roast, French Roast and a few others. The passport has a small box for you to write down how the coffee tastes in that particular region. I find this passport interesting and fun for coffee drinkers. A very good strategy of Starbucks to get and stay connected with their coffee drinkers....