The Homa Files

And, this time it’s not about higher latte prices.

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According to  Yahoo Finance, channeling a recent YouGov survey …

Starbuck’s brand image has gotten slammed.

The coffee giant’s consumer perception levels – measured by the YouGov BrandIndex — have fallen by two-thirds since late January.

The timing of the drop coincides with CEO Howard Schultz’s response to President Trump’s executive order … the one intended to slow the flow refugees entering the US.

Schultz announced — with great fanfare —  that Starbucks would hire 10,000 refugees worldwide in the next five years.

Take that, Donald!

Err …

Also according to YouGov, 2 days before Starbucks’ announcement, 30% of consumers said they’d consider buying from Starbucks the next time they were craving coffee.

Now, the percentage is down to 24%.

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What’s going on?

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My take …

Apparently, Schultz didn’t learn from his disastrous 2015  “Race Together” initiative.

Remember:  baristas were directed to chat up customers on racial tension while they were waiting for their lattes.

That program  landed with a thud and was quickly deep-sixed.

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Or, maybe Schultz has other motives.

Maybe he’s really concerned about refugees … that’s a possibility.

Or, maybe he’s positioning himself for 2020 … a real possibility since he was reportedly angling for Hillary’s VP slot.

Or, maybe he figures that Starbuck’s image is just fine with his core customers … who are in philosophical alignment.

We’ll see, when the rubber hits the road  …  when their lattes are being mixed by the new wave baristas.

Then, it’ll be real, not just academic.

It’ll be interesting to watch Starbuck’s sales.

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This entry was posted on February 27, 2017 at 6:55 am and is filed under Brand equity, Starbucks, Trumo, President Donald. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.