? Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
In the 1890s, Russian Nobel Prize recipient Ivan Petrovich Pavlov performed a series of experiments to analyze the salivary glands of dogs in response to food; he noticed that his dogs tended to salivate even before certain foods were being fed to them. In one of his experiments, every time Pavlov fed his dogs, he would create a definitive ringing sound prior to that to indicate feeding time. The ringing sound would be produced either by a bell or metronome or a whistle. After doing this several times, he noticed that whenever he randomly rang his bell, the dogs would automatically start to salivate even when there was no food around. This phenomenon is known as conditional reflex: a reaction towards something due to anticipation of that past experience.
What has this got to do with Starbucks? Everything. The Starbucks logo is Pavlov’s Bell. It, and everything else about Starbucks, was designed in such a way that even the briefest glimpse of it would conjure up pleasant associations in the mind of the consumer. One look at a Starbucks logo will cause a coffee aficionado to ‘salivate’ with the anticipation of good coffee, soft down lights, friendly baristas, comfortable armchairs, and a relaxed overall coffeehouse environment. This has long been Starbucks’ strategy in carefully sculpting its brand and making it one of the most successful Fortune 500 corporations around. Thanks to Starbucks, coffee is no longer a commodity – it’s a lifestyle.
A Brief History
1971
Starbucks was officially born off Pike Place Market in Seattle, USA, and opened for business on March 29, 1971. Its owners at the time were Gordon Bowker, Zev Siegl, and Jerry Bal ...