Stretching the Brand

Three Minds comments on why Starbucks is finding success in being more than just another coffee joint:

"Because the brand is trusted, valued and  safe, and consumers are willing to follow a commercial path of consideration and  purchase they already have demonstrated their affinities for: quality, authentic  experiences in clean environments. (i.e., folk rock without the drugs, moving  stories without the existential darkness, films that are smart yet family safe,  coffee that is quality, clean and just plain good.)"

There's a lot of insight in this brief post, which goes beyond the intricacies of brands as marketers see them to get right to the heart of what they mean to people:

"Mass brands are rarely persuasive or attuned to my needs as a dedicated long-tailer with niche interests and distrust of the corporate soft sell, but when that rare moment happens, when Netflix helps me find movies I will love by exposing me to film nuts who write reviews without promoters distorting their vision, when Google serves me ads that I actually find interesting, or when I sit in a JetBlue plane and they have little TV’s in the back of every single chair, with movies I actually like, I get that shiver of recognition. It’s like they know what I want, and they’re right. Before I know what’s happening I’ve taken out the credit card, handed it to the lady, and signed the little paper. And smiled."

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