Marketing in a Global Economy Assignment

BUS 620 Managerial Marketing
Timothy Malone
December 23, 2013

Marketing in a Global Economy Assignment
Italy represents the height of the coffee culture, “the gold standard against which all others are measured” (Faris, 2012). For Italians, their coffee is a cultural symbol. If Starbucks is serious about venturing into Italy, then they have a lot of work to do in order to promote their brand. However, the longer they stay out of the Italian market, the harder it will be for Starbucks to break ground.
Global markets represent an opportunity for growth and development among many companies around the world. It “requires companies to extend and leverage their marketing skills, product-based competencies, and brand-specific advantages to adapt to consumer preferences in different parts of the world” (Finch, 2012, p. 392). Starbucks is a prime example of a company that has become successful in conducting business within the global economy.
After an inspiring trip to Milan in 1983, Howard Schultz came up with the idea of Starbucks. With his new vision, Schultz believed that coffee could be more than just a drink; it could become an “experience” (Faris, 2012). Now, the once little Seattle based company is pushing into new territories faster than it can come up with a new coffee variation. Thompson and Arsel state, “The Starbucks revolution transformed gourmet coffee from a yuppie status symbol into a mainstream consumer good, and it has essentially created the American coffee shop market” (Thompson & Arsel, 2004, p. 1).
Over the years, Starbucks has become a cultural icon for all the rapacious excesses and a cultural homogenization that has attributed to globalizing corporate capitalism (Thompson & Arsel, 2004). Now, the Italians fear that Starbucks’s market dominance coupled with its hyperagressive