TRIBAL KNOWLEDGE: BUSINESS WISDOM BREWED FROM THE GROUNDS OF STARBUCKS CORPORATE CULTURE
John Moore, Kaplan Publishing, US$16.29 on www.amazon.com
We look to models of success when launching a business. It’s only natural. We try to learn from other people’s mistakes and look out for things people do really well and adapt them to what we have in mind.
We also look for new businesses ideas, and coffee was certainly the big new thing two decades ago when a whole raft of companies launched brands. But today, there is only one truly global player.
Since its public offering in 1992, Starbucks has mushroomed to boast revenues of more than US$6.5 billion a year with over 9,500 locations worldwide and stores opening at the rate of five a day.
Two recent books have been written about the US coffee conglomerate that try to get to grips with some of the secrets to their success. One of these titles is Tribal Knowledge: Business Wisdom Brewed from the Grounds of Starbucks Corporate Culture by Starbucks insider John Moore, who exposes the stories that catapulted Starbucks to international stardom.
In a relaxed, conversational style, Moore offers a number of useful tips, but it is the chapters on marketing to both employees and customers, and its emphasis on high-touch over high-tech, that the book comes alive. It reveals the passionate tribe mentality that Starbucks instils in its employees, that infects their customers, so all stakeholders, whether selling the product or buying it, feel that they are truly making a difference to the world. Through cause-related marketing Starbucks is able to make staff feel they are not just coming to work, but doing something meaningful. They have become zealots for the brand. Likewise, customers choose Starbucks as they feel they are making a contribution, making someone’s life better, and not just buying coffee.
There have been a number of books out on Starbucks, some excellent, some terrible. Sadly, one example of the latter is The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary, a book that reads like an advertisement. Make sure you don’t pick up the wrong one.
David Johnson
