COSE Update - September 2008 - (Page 20)

the “bigness” of small business Forget everything you’ve ever heard about size. A former Starbucks marketing brain dissects why the big guys want to ditch their ‘ginormous’ status. By Kristen Hampshire an you remember when Starbucks was not on every corner? Remember before there were mall kiosks, airport cafes and coffee stops in major hotels and inside Target stores? Loyalists had to drive out of their way to get the bold, dark coffee that was far from any regular Joe. What about that barista who spent morning business hours, back turned from the counter, while grinding fresh beans for the coffee of the day? (That’s COD to the bar crowd or baristas as Starbucks calls them—and does anyone remember calling a coffee shop employee a barista before Starbucks?) Starbucks was small. And it was a big deal. Then the chain got big, as many successful small businesses do, and now confronts a typical but troubling paradox: how to get small again. “No one roots for Goliath,” says John Moore, marketing evangelist and owner of Brand Autopsy. Moore staged marketing strategies for Starbucks and Whole Foods, two chains that serve as marketing case studies for businesses working to restore the small stuff (Starbucks), and recognize the value in having a strong point of view (Whole Foods). “The only thing a company truly owns 20 • cose update • september 2008 c is its culture,” Moore says simply. Personality is a business’ best advertising, he adds. “Being strategies” are more important than marketing plans. “Don’t worry about branding,” Moore says. (That’s news to entrepreneurs’ ears.) “Instead, worry about being a business that connects to customers and employees. If you do that, you’ll be surprised at how your business will naturally grow and how people will become passionate about the things you do.” Moore watched Starbucks evolve from a niche business into a brand that replaced the word coffee in conversations; as in, “I’m going to get a cup of Starbucks,” rather than just getting a cup of coffee. He started behind the bar in a Dallas Starbucks, serving coffee drinks and talking it up with customers, while finishing a marketing degree at University of North Texas. Then Moore began converting Starbucks local charity campaigns, such as a book drive, into national programs. “That’s a classic way to get bigger by acting smaller—do national campaigns with local legs,” he says. Moore writes about the Starbucks marketing machine in Tribal Knowledge: Business Wisdom Brewed from the Grounds of Starbucks Corporate Culture. Here, he talks about why small businesses have big advantages, and what entrepreneurs can learn from brand icons like Starbucks. Marketing guru John Moore will speak to COSE members at the Small Business Conference on Wednesday, Oct. 22 from 1-2:15 p.m. Register at cose.org/sbc. http://cose.org/sbc

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of COSE Update - September 2008

COSE Update - September 2008 Contents Memo Upfront Vision Tech Business Interrupted The “Bigness” of Small Business What’s the Plan? People Telecom Advocacy Communications Health Pipeline Connect Arts My Cause Plugged In

COSE Update - September 2008

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