The return of Howard Schultz as CEO of Starbucks Corp. prompted an outpouring of opinion in traditional and new media of what ails the company. Many have speculated at what Mr. Schultz may do to reverse a recent trend of negative foot traffic in U.S. stores.

Among the better reads on the topic appeared in the ReportOnBusiness.com section of The Globe and Mail from Toronto.

Among the insights:

Douglas Holt, who holds the L’Oréal chair of marketing at the Said Business School at the University of Oxford, says the chain has forsaken its brand promise. “The brand promise has changed from being this artisanal coffee offering to this very standardized commodity,” says Prof. Holt, whose book, How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding, was published in 2004.

In the beginning, continues Prof. Holt, Starbucks wooed customers into its world “where you should treat coffee as one would wine. The consumer as connoisseur was very much a part of the promise, and now they’ve basically subverted that.”

The author also offered this discussion of the affiliation benefit associated with Starbucks:

Starbucks was a luxury brand that benefited greatly from the trickling down of aspirational desires to the non-elites. You may not be a rich man, but in a pinch you can buy a rich man’s coffee.

There’s nothing new in understanding that people buy goods as much for what they mean, or represent, as for what they do. Michael Solomon, professor of marketing at the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, has written, literally, the book on consumer behaviour. “The strategic goal of many firms is not to build market share — it’s to build share of mind,” Prof. Solomon says. “Starbucks is a great example of this deep meaning stuff.”

The “deep meaning stuff” defies rational economic models. “There’s nothing rational about paying $4 for a cup of coffee,” Prof. Solomon continues. “You’re not buying coffee at Starbucks, you’re buying experience at Starbucks … The experience of feeling you’re partaking in this community that has elevated coffee far beyond a drink. The coffee was emblematic of a lifestyle.”

Initially, going to Starbucks meant you were separating yourself from the mainstream. Starbucks delivered what Prof. Simon calls a “class bang.” Toting a Starbucks affirmed class.

Read more at this link.

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A public service campaign in Australia flips the reckless driving conversation on its head to emotionally hit young men where it hurts most. The campaign demonstrates the effectiveness of engaging an audience emotionally, whether advocating a purchase or a change in behavior. From Newsweek:

When you first read the slogan, SPEEDING: NO ONE THINKS BIG OF YOU, you might think it was a reminder that people think poorly of those who break the law. Think again. This new road-safety campaign…is aimed a bit more below the belt—by suggesting those men who speed have small penises. In…advertisements, young “hoons”—Aussie-speak for speeding or reckless drivers—are mocked by unimpressed women who wave their little fingers at the drivers in a parody of their manhood.

The wagging finger is a commonly used insult in Australia, often leveled at drivers of monster SUVs or expensive sports cars to suggest their vehicles are compensating for a deficiency elsewhere…

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Here’s a story about successful branding from South Africa’s Fin24:

Savanna, the ‘dry but you can drink it’ South African cider advertised with a uniquely quirky humour…

Launched exactly a decade ago, and currently the fastest-growing FAB (flavoured alcoholic beverage) on the SA market with a volume growth of 60% for the 12 months to March 2006, Savanna is now also capturing the imagination of Britons…

“People regard Savanna as a drink they can stay with for the entire duration of an occasion, a pattern evident in most markets where it sells.”

…[B]rand loyalty is strengthened by Savanna’s consistent delivery of high quality taste and its humorous positioning in advertising and on the website.

Savanna successfully tells its story in a compelling way, understanding that everything matters as a point of human contact, from product to website.

Savanna does not rely upon a trite slogan as part of their brand tip of the spear. Dry, but you can drink it successfully demonstrates a compelling competitive difference with a benefit relevant to the consumer.

Okay, so we like this brand. Maybe the makers of Savanna Cider will send us a case.

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Donald Trump is starting a mortgage business. As the Orange County Register reports, Trump Mortgage is out to develop a national brand within the highly fragmented real estate lending industry:

The world seems pretty full of mortgage companies.

Donald Trump disagrees.

The real estate mogul turned name brand, turned TV star, officially rolls out Trump Mortgage…in New York. The purported goal of the business is to provide luxury-style service to both residential and commercial borrowers.

“Donald Trump is putting the suit and tie back in the mortgage business,” says a press release announcing today’s kickoff.

…Trump, always master of spin, dropped enough hints…on the mortgage company’s Web site, to guess at his assumptions:

People will pay up for a smooth sail through mortgage application hell.

And they’ll brag about the brand name tied to the loan.

[One] Orange County mortgage broker…thinks Trump might be on to something: “How many people want to boast that they have a Trump mortgage?”

We suggest, “Not enough.”

Trump is banking the success of this venture largely on the perceived value of an affiliation benefit, revolving around how a customer wants others to see them due to their affiliation with Donald Trump.

This brand extension has an all too familiar smell.

Market analysts predict Starbucks is on course to overtake McDonalds as the world’s largest fast food brand. The careful nurturing of the Starbucks brand identity is behind this growth:

Coffee is a daily habit for many. However, the Starbucks model has been instrumental in taking that staple beverage and turning it into a premium indulgence with the associated pricing benefits.

The Starbucks network of comfortable stores offers aspirational lifestyle associations and affiliation benefits for consumers on an easy to access basis. More to this story at Business Review Online.

BlaK, Coca-Cola Co.’s new coffee-flavored soda, arrives in U.S. stores on Monday. According to the Wall Street Journal:

The Atlanta beverage giant is pouring millions of dollars into a splashy launch, with prime-time commercials and a million free samples…

The company is pitching Blak to sophisticated adults, like the harried mother who wants an afternoon jolt of caffeine. Blak has about twice the caffeine of Coca-Cola Classic but fewer than half the calories. Free samples will be passed out at film festivals and food and wine shows.

The BlaK website says the new carbonated drink “fuses Coke effervescence with coffee essence.”

All fine and good, but a question. How does this new product brand name and key messaging map to imagery appetizing and attractive to those sophisticated adults the Coca-Cola Company seeks to convert? The answer of course is, it doesn’t. Which is why the company will spend tens of millions in traditional and non-traditional advertising support for the brand.

While the Coca Cola Company may see BlaK competing with Starbucks, Blak is ultimately an energy drink, much like Red Bull.

Contrast the BlaK roll-out to market introductions of Red Bull. While BlaK explains itself, Red Bull spends little on advertising, instead demonstrating relevance to its target audience by a tight brand focus, whether in the brand tip of the spear (tagline: “Red Bull gives you wings”) or through sponsorships of extreme sports.

Red Bull’s brand focus has paid off; according to the company more than a billion cans of Red Bull are consumed each year, and the company has a reported 80% worldwide market share.

“The image of Red Bull is definitely nothing to do with any food product, but has a luxury, lifestyle identification,” says Red Bull’s CEO.

While BlaK is busy explaining itself, Red Bull owns the conversation within the energy drink category. Company shareholders should be asking tough questions of Coke’s leadership of how they will effectively brand BlaK, rather than relying upon an advertising strategy of functional benefits (”Coke + coffee”).

Until then, BlaK will be engaged in a struggle to establish and gain market share.