Has anyone noticed how Starbucks and McDonald's are now competitors? I never thought I would see the day. However, in my Marketing class my professor pointed it out to us that McDonald's is trying to break into the gourmet coffee market which puts them in competition with Starbucks. Customers are finding out that flavored iced coffees are a good, fast alternative to the more expensive drinks from starbucks. Starbucks on the other hand tried to break into the breakfast sandwich arena with little success. They have recently decided to stop producing these sandwiches and get back to their original focus of coffee. I have to wonder if both of these companies are trying to spread themselves too thin. If you're good at something then why change it? Why mess with the system? When I think of McDonald's I think of hamburgers, fries, and speedy service. When I think of Starbucks I think of great coffee, cool music, and an all around great atmosphere to just chill. This all revolves around branding and positioning. Once a business decides what business to be in then I think they should stay with it. Some McDonald's locations are even looking more like cafes that fast food restaurants. They are adding fireplaces and wide screen tv's. They're getting rid of the massive play places and adding wi-fi. They're atmosphere is even trying to compete with that of starbucks. What is going on? Know what you're good at and stick with it. Why fix it when it ain't broke?
McDonald's vs. Starbucks
By iStudent - Posted on March 26th, 2008
It's all about coming up with new ideas to bring in a larger revenue. These businesses will add anything they think can make them more money and coffee is a really good money-maker. Coffee is cheap, easy to make, and very popular. Wi-Fi is a big thing no matter where you go because they figure if you're going to sit on the computer, you'll keep buying more product.
I don't see much of a competition. McDonald's ice coffee tastes like sugared water. It's pretty gross, I'm not gonna lie.
Starbucks has pretty ok ice coffee. No questioning that it's better than McDonald's, but I prefer my own, or going to locally-owned coffee shops. I'm pretty picky about my coffee and Starbucks just doesn't quite make the cut usually.
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