Cartoon - The Starbucks Experience

Yesterday our MBA marketing team presented our Marketing Plan recommendations to a local business owner.  Part of the presentation was to explain modern marketing concepts including the customer experience and focus on the Job the customer is trying to do.  A frequently cited example is Starbucks.  Apparently McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts beat Starbucks in blind taste tests, yet the general public believes Starbucks to be of premium quality.  Starbucks' success ultimately is not from selling coffee, but rather the overall café experience.  The customer merely is renting space (their third place) as an escape from home or work.

Thanks to Fedora Project's Máirín Duffy for her cartoon that helped tremendously in conveying this concept.  Our Professor liked it very much and suggested publishing it for use in marketing academia.  Thus she decided to release it under the Creative Commons BY-SA license.  Thanks Mo!

(I now find myself sitting in Starbucks, renting space, as I write this blog entry.)