Marketing Plan

CEO of Nike Phil Knight is quoted as saying, "Now we understand that the most important thing we do is market the product. We've come around to saying that Nike is a marketing-oriented company, and the product is our most important marketing tool" (12Manage.com, n.d.). Marketing has been said to be simply "Putting the right product in the right place, at the right price, at the right time". It sounds so elementary, but so does explaining to someone how to ride a bike. If one gets a portion of the element wrong at any step along the way, they can, and probably will fail miserably (MindTools, n.d.).

The four P's is just one of the many marketing mix lists developed over the years. Blending the marketing mix in a most advantageous manner will generate a positive customer response. among other marketing mix models that have been developed is Boom and Bitner's seven P's, sometimes called the extended marketing mix, which includes the first four P's, with people, processes and physical layout decisions added.

Grounds for Your Garden, the Starbucks recycling s...

English: Starbucks' headquarters building in Seatt...

A display of Starbucks Ethos water.

Yet another marketing mix method is Lauterborn's four C's, which presents the elements of the marketing mix from the buyers, rather than the seller's perspective. The four C's are comprised of customers' needs and desires (product), cost (price), convenience (place) and communication (promotion). However, the four C's model is one of the most well known; containing the core elements of a good marketing mix (MindTools, n.d.).

As one of the leading organizations in the coffee business, you would be hard pressed to find a person whom has not heard of Starbucks. Starbucks is an international coffee giant well-known for great products and insurmountable customer service. Starbucks' mission statement is to "establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our...