McMuffins Starbucks Style

If you’ve been to Starbucks recently you may have noticed their latest side hustle is a small assortment of breakfast sandwiches. Yes…watch out everybody…. Starbucks has entered the sandwich business.

I pondered about their potential success in this market while sitting at my local Starbucks/Community hub….that sits right next to what usually is a bustling Burger King. Hmm…I guess if you’re not zipping through the drive thru why would want to eat in that bright florescent lighting while sitting in a hard plastic booth? Mercy!

The average person would probably much rather eat their breakfast someplace where they check morning emails on their laptop while sitting on a plush sofa, sipping a chai tea latte with Norah Jones crooning in the background.

The people at Starbucks obviously realized this too and they’ve quietly extended their brand while keeping with their signature coffee roots. I am sure years ago they had enough traffic to be successful at selling anything from sandwiches to chicken on a stick if they wanted to….but they were operating with a mix of opportunity and strategy instead of just the former.

It's a tried and true method that works for Starbucks as well as many other highly successful companies. Remember long before their were McNuggets or Ceasar salads it was all about McDonalds hamburgers....or how many years went by before apple decided to launch it's snazzy version of the now virtually non existent mp3 player. Proving there is room within even the most competitive industries to grow within your main competency before attacking new territory.

As a fashion companies lets take for granted these iconic brands know what their doing and take a lesson not rushing ourselves into putting too much product on the market at once. We too can start with a specific category that we can strategically expand on over time….such as tee shirts, denim or dresses or blazers.

For long term success it's best to strongly correlate your brand to a concept or product amongst your core customer base before exposing yourself to new categories. If you’re successful there will be plenty of time and money for brand and product extensions.

Successful Fashion Brands that Took One Step at a Time….

1. Ralph Lauren….started with a variety of ties then polo shirts creating a culture of everyday preppiness.
   

2. Gap began with a strong niche in jeans to at one time becoming the largest specialty retailer in the world.

3. Diane Von Furstenberg cornered the market on prints and wrap dresses that she continues to this day.