Starbucks in Europe

It comes to no surprise that the "Starbucks" brand is becoming a world wide phenomenon with over 4,000 coffee shops worldwide. This Seattle-based coffee empire can easily be called one of the most popular and well known coffee brands around the globe. But for some, this coffee chain has yet to grace the corners of their streets.

When thinking of coffee or il cafe, I think Italy. Italy is among one of the original countries to introduce coffee and coffee shops to the public. Starbucks is planning on expanding their market and will introduce 650 branches throughout Europe! ABC News says "Starbucks is currently opening new branches worldwide at a rate of three per day." This expansion is remarkable! To think that Europe, home of some of the worlds best coffee, is opening up their arms to this "chain". It is quite interesting. Starbucks has made a very powerful name for themselves and now, when we think of coffee, the first brand that everyone around the world will think of is "Starbucks".

"We're taking a softly, softly approach when it comes to Europe," said a spokeswoman from Starbucks Europe. "We expect to open shops in the big four countries — Italy, Germany, France and Spain — in the next 24 to 36 months."

What does this mean for advertising? Is the Starbucks logo going to be a symbol of what coffee should be in today's world? What is going to happen to all of the smaller coffee houses around Europe that have originated this business? Although Starbucks is tastefully addictive, I hope Europeans stay true to their hometown coffee houses and continue to give them their business as well as enjoying Starbucks at times. What we see when we look at Starbucks advertisements and marketing is the same thing that Europeans will be glancing at in their cities. The Starbucks green and logo will begin flooding their street corners, filling their garbage cans, empty venti cups will be seen left on tables and desks, and scoops of Starbucks coffee will be what Europeans will be placing inside of their coffee makers first thing in the morning. Lets hope who ever is in charge of Advertising and Marketing for the Europe area is very good at what they do because this might be a very difficult market to break into at first.