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How to love the low end

Posted Dec 2nd, 2009 at 9:24 AM and seen
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Starbucks recently introduced an instant-coffee product called Via. As of mid-November, it’s also available in a decaffeinated version. This product presented an interesting marketing challenge: Would it affect the high-end image of brewed coffee brewed by Starbucks baristas?

According to Scott Anthony of the Harvard Business blog, Starbucks’s efforts with Via is a great example of how to love the low end of a market. (Disclosure: Starbucks is a sponsor of Alltop)

Total coverage of coffee and of Starbucks.

 Guy Kawasaki

Comments (6)

Dec 02, 2009
Colin Warwick said...
Via's really expensive for instant coffee (over a dollar a cup) so it isn't really low end. It's the very high end of a low status category.
Dec 02, 2009
emerysmith said...
Colin has it right. But the cool thing is that it represents a product that high end coffee users considered undrinkable! This is reclaiming lost market share.
Dec 02, 2009
radiopaque said...
Via is not much better than a microwaved cup of day old Starbucks. Better off just saving an extra 63 cents to buy a fresh brewed cup. I'm not impressed.
Dec 03, 2009
Andy Ciordia said...
Everyone I know who has tried it, regrets trying it. If you like sanka then this is for you, else it won't take a dollar from the top.
Dec 06, 2009
Alan K said...
I think Via is pretty good. I keep it as a backup for when I run out of coffee beans at home.

I still wonder why Starbucks would undermine their brand by associating it with instant coffee. They have clearly created a high-end instant but it is still instant and will be associated with bad coffee.

Dec 06, 2009
Colin Warwick said...
Starbucks position Via as a fall back when all else fails: a defense against really bad airline coffee, not a substitute for home or coffee house coffee. It tastes pretty good if you do a blind test against home brew. It also works with soy milk. Just nuke soy milk for a minute then stir in a Via. But $1/cup is too much for what it is.

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