What Happens When A Company Veers Away From Its Brand Color? Starbucks Goes Red This Holiday Season

Starbucks goes red? When a company intentionally veers from its traditional brand color, there better be a darned good reason. Starbucks for instance has joined the Product (red) brigade, spearheaded by U2's Bono to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

It's marketing for a cause and it's a beautiful thing. When companies make themselves productive beyond the scope of their own profitability, it is just a blessing not only to the organization but to the world



Seeing a company that contributes to the world's sustainability is impressive. Companies in the private sector do not operate in a vacuum, but in a world where at some point everyone is interconnected.

Every time you buy coffee at Starbucks, five cents will be contributed to Africa. It's not a lot but it can save lives. It's a good start. When company brands as big as Starbucks start to take notice, I certainly do hope others will follow. This is a great way to blend holiday marketing as well.

Will Starbucks Say Goodbye Soon?

Starbucks has been going on a downward spiral with an initial job cut and then a lawsuit over "free" wifi. Starbucks is finally closing the doors of 600 outlets! That's a lot I tell you. That's approximately 10% of their total store chain since they have 6,800 US stores. And 600 stores have the equivalent of 12,000 employees losing their jobs. That's really sad.

So what happened you ask? Let's take our answer from Boston.com's Alex Beam - he has laid down in the best and simplest possible terms the answer

What went wrong at Starbucks? To invoke the venerable business cliche, they didn't stick to their knitting. Their core business was overcharging consumers for coffee, and a very lucrative business it was. Then they started selling dreamy CDs, and the company even helped produce a movie, "Akilah and the Bee," that bombed at the box office. Schultz bought a basketball team and started hanging out with Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney, the usual recipe for business disaster.

Is Starbucks Losing Its Touch? Corporate Job Cut Part Of Business Strategy

In an attempt to gain footing during difficult times, Starbucks is tightening its belt. CNNmoney.com reports corporate level job cuts throughout Starbucks Corp., specifically mentioning last Thursday the cutting of 220 corporate-level jobs, another step in its restructuring plan to improve U.S. operations.

About 75 of those jobs are at its Seattle headquarters; the rest are in other Starbucks offices across the United States. The jobs involve finance, marketing and communications functions, according to spokesman Brandon Borrman. No retail- store level workers are being let go.

In addition, Starbucks (SBUX) won't fill 380 job positions it had budgeted. On that basis, the coffee-shop chain said that it's trimming its workforce by 600 jobs. It currently employs 170,000.

"We realize that we are operating in an intensely challenging environment, one in which our customers and partners (employees) have extremely high expectations of Starbucks," Chief Executive Howard Schultz told employees in a memo. "We have to step up to the challenge of being strategic as well as nimble as our business evolves."

Schultz retook the helm in early January to rejuvenate the Starbucks U.S. business, which has showed signs of fatigue after years of rapid growth and softer consumer spending of late.

The company is curbing U.S. store-growth plans, closing 100 underperforming stores and testing $1 coffee at some of its Seattle stores. It plans to discontinue financial forecasts and stop serving warm-egg breakfast sandwiches because it interferes with the aroma of coffee.

The company, Schultz said Thursday, also will increase its U.S. field operations to four offices from two, effective Feb. 25. It is part of his broader plan to better connect with consumers.

Starbucks shares, down 45% the past year, closed at $17.83, down 43 cents.

(image from wwff.wordpress.com)