Fast Food Coffee Wars: The Unlikely Winner
Burger King recently announced that it will begin selling Starbucks coffee at about 75% of its locations, starting this summer. Well, not exactly the same gourmet Joe you get at one of Starbucks’ ubiquitous locales. BK will add “Seattle’s Best Coffee”, a brand owned by Starbucks. But, hey, it’s like buying a Kenmore and knowing that it came from a leading brand.
The move represents a direct hit at McDonald’s in the Fast Food Coffee Wars. Mickey D’s targeted Starbucks’ market of coffee aficionados when it added the McCafe line of gourmet coffees to its menu. BK now jumps into the fray, alongside
Subway, which is selling Seattle’s Best in about 9,000 locations nationwide. Add the 7,250 BK stores that will be pumping the Starbucks blend to its customers and the Seattle giant has more than doubled the number of sites selling its bargain brand of caffeine, at a price of about $1 to $2.79 a cup.
So, the real winner here is Starbucks, a brand that has been suffering from all the businesses that have chipped away at the company’s legendary success in the high-priced gourmet coffee market. A brilliant marketing move to stretch the Starbucks brand reach to a wider base of consumers—those who frequent the fast-food windows—and they’ve done it without compromising the premium brand!
The runner-up is the coffee drinker who can feed his/her caffeine addiction with a good cup of coffee in more places and at a reasonable price.
But will the Starbucks name be strong enough to rip market share out of the hands of fast-food leader McDonald’s? Probably not. But Burger King is sure to increase sales of food items—in spite of that uber-creepy character/mascot that should be de-throned.
More businesses need to take a marketing lesson from Starbucks. When the numbers are down, don’t just try to push your customers to buy more. Invest in a new niche. Get creative. And choose partners with the power to build your brand.
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Sue Publicover is the VP of Marketing & Development at Round Table Companies. A self-professed marketing nerd, Sue is passionate about the psychology and technology that drives buying behaviors. She devours information on social media, email marketing, lead generation, and strategic planning with the same intense gratification as dark chocolate-covered pretzels!
