[Dixielandjazz] Coffee and OKOM

[Stephen G Barbone]

> "Ken Mathieson" <ken at kenmath.free-online.co.uk> wrote (polite snip)
>>
>
> Starbucks are everywhere in UK, but they don't seem to be able to  
> compete in countries with serious coffee cultures like Italy, Spain,  
> Portugal, Brasil. To me that indicates a quality issue: the  
> Italians, Spanish, Portuguese, Brasilians etc are accustomed to top  
> quality coffee and can't be conned into buying anything else, no  
> matter how assiduously it is promoted.

According to their "store locater", Starbucks has a presence in  
Brazil. In  2006 they opened stores in Sao Paulo and claim to have  
served over a million customers in 2008. I'm not sure what the store  
count there is now, but I think it is 17.

They may have learned a marketing lesson, in that they offer a  
Brazilian Blend, and Brazilian snacks as well as their usual stuff.  
The Brazilian blend uses beans imported to the USA, processed here,  
and then sent back to Brazil. I think they plan to sell the "Brazilian  
Blend" in other countries.

They also have 76 stores in Spain with 46 in Madrid, 20 in Barcelona,  
5 in Sevilla, 4 in Valencia and 1 in Las Palmas.

I think where they got burned initially is where they tried to sell  
the product they make in the USA in other countries without figuring  
out consumer demand in those countries. They seem to be bumbling along  
now, in a soft economy, adjusting and trying to supply what people want.

The Marketing lesson applies to OKOM as well as Coffee. Give the  
customers what they want which is,  quite often, is not what the  
manufacturer or band  produces. Applied to music, it is, as Louis  
Armstrong said, "The Audience" that rules, not bands or musicians.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband