While the Chinese are boycotting Rakuten, the American people are boycotting Starbucks

Recently, with South Korea's Rakuten's help in deploying the "THAAD" anti-missile system in South Korea, we can see a large number of netizens on the Chinese Internet setting off a big wave of boycotting Rakuten, which makes many people pessimistic about Rakuten's future in China. While this wave of boycott is on the rise, many Americans on the other side of the Pacific are not idle. They are boycotting Starbucks. What on earth is this for?

What's going on here?

It starts with U.S. President Donald Trump, who signed a travel ban on seven Muslim countries on January 27. Two days later, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz (Howard Schultz) responded to the ban by saying he would hire 10, 000 refugees over the next five years to help them realize the "American Dream." Schultz's statement drew criticism from Trump supporters, many of whom called for a public boycott of Starbucks on social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

Since January 29, Starbucks' word-of-mouth rating has fallen 2/3, from 12 to 4, according to YouGov BrandInde, a leading market research firm. According to Schultz's open letter to all employees on January 29, Starbucks' employment plan applies to stores in 75 countries around the world, saying that Starbucks will not only hire refugees, but also help those who pursue their dreams. Starbucks will build bridges rather than walls between the United States and Mexico, such as helping Mexican coffee growers.

Schultz

Reshape the cafe

There are many people in the United States who oppose Trump, but there are also many people who support the president who does not play his cards according to common sense. Schultz's statement on Trump's policies eventually drew resistance from Trump supporters. Some people may be strange to Schultz, but he is an important figure in the history of retail and services, he makes a cafe important not only for coffee, but also for the consumer environment and experience.

Schultz was not the original founder of Starbucks, which was founded by writer Gordon Bowker, history teacher Zev Siegl and English teacher Jerry. Baldwin (Jerry Baldwin). In the beginning, Starbucks was not what it is now, but a store that only sells coffee beans and coffee equipment. The three founders chose the first Starbucks in Seattle in 1971.

After Schultz became Starbucks' marketing and retail manager in 1982, Schultz proposed a transformation of the existing Starbucks. He wanted to change the existing mode of operation and add coffee bar seats at Starbucks. But this transformation was rejected by the founder of Starbucks at that time, so Schultz chose to leave Starbucks in 1985 to create his own brand-Tiantian Coffee.

In 1987, Starbucks, which did not listen to Schultz, chose to sell itself. It was Schultz, a former employee, who finally bought Starbucks, so it can also be said that Starbucks is the brand of the old Starbucks combined with Tiantian Coffee. Schultz, who returned to Starbucks, was finally able to develop Starbucks as he wanted. Under his leadership, Starbucks went public in 1992 and rushed out of the United States to become a global chain. In terms of returning to the company and leading the rise of the company, he is the same as Jobs.

Starbucks attaches great importance to experience and service, and consumers are willing to spend not only because of coffee, but also because of environment and experience. Schultz once said: "We are not in the coffee industry, but to provide services to customers." We are running the lives of our customers, and providing coffee is just a service. "

For physical stores, location is a very important thing. Now that Starbucks has chosen to sell its environment and services and build itself into a "third space" outside of home and work, consumers need to be able to find cafes in a short time after going out. Based on this, Starbucks' location is not spread out in a big country like the United States or China, but intensive layout and deep ploughing in several key cities, which ensures the density of Starbucks in a city. so that consumption can be found more easily.

Ai asked people of the Day (Wechat ID:iaskmedia) to say:

The dispute between virtual and real economy is a hot issue recently, so the question comes, what kind of physical stores will not be easily replaced by the Internet. One is a store that sells goods that need to be used immediately; the other is a store that needs real-world experience. These are exactly what cafes have, so we can see that there is no shortage of customers for Starbucks and its competitors around us. Even many of the entrepreneurial bases of the Internet are selling coffee while providing a place for young people to start a business. The development history of Starbucks is also accompanied by the development of the Internet in the world. Therefore, as long as you have your own unique advantages, you are not afraid of being replaced at any time.