Perfecting your startup image like Starbucks did is no easy feat
Let’s get one thing straight. You need to get your startup image right because it is one of the most crucial things you have to get right if you want to succeed. The startup image success formula is to have not only have a great product, but also a great startup image. Even if a lack of branding is not one of the main reasons why startups fail, your startup image genuinely matters, and it will make or break your startup during the first few years.
Many entrepreneurs and startups KNOW that their product is great, in fact, their friends and family too, are SURE that their product will succeed. However, the world hasn’t heard about you just yet, and that is a big challenge. In this article, you will get to see how Starbucks Brand Image methods are effective and how you too can have a very successful brand image.
Starbucks has a well-calculated brand image given that they work hard and curate carefully the way they look. Today, I am going to take this coffee company example to show you how Starbucks brand image is powerful and how you can replicate their branding to your startup. Researchers at Princeton have found that it takes milliseconds to make the first impression, and most of the time, it is difficult to alter these. So your digital media marketing campaigns have to be well calculated, but before all, you need to carefully curate a great startup image, a stellar impression on people.
You need to move them, elicit emotion, desire, hope in order to attract them and get their attention. Your product will change the world, but you need the users believe in you as well. You need their permission to access them, in order to change their lives for the better. At Growth Hackers, we have seen first hand that startups only earn real traction when their image is crafted with the same intention and precision as their product.
In this article, you will see
- A great life example on how one startup perfected their image. Have you heard about Starbucks coffee? Just kidding, I’m sure you did. We’ll analyze how Starbucks brand image works and a close look at the methods they use to perfect the “Starbucks Brand Image”.
- How you too, with a few simple tactics can perfect your startup image, and convey the right message to the world by taking inspiration from Starbucks brand analysis.
Some of you will think that startup image or your startup image is something you should be dealing after you finish focusing on your product and marketing, not before. I suggest that you come up with a solid foundation about what you would like your startup to look like, and for it to be in line with your product.
All brands do it, let’s check out a real life example, Starbucks.
Starbucks doesn’t own the most unique products in the market, and this makes it easy for other companies to copy their ideas (At least, it’s what it feels like). Other coffee shops and Starbucks competitors like McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts offer almost identical food with different logos on them at nearly any location you go too; all of which will get your taste buds craving a little bit differently depending where they are from! But, Starbucks’ branding is on another level.
Starbucks customers are used to pay overpriced coffee for a bean quality that can be found at every corner (Maybe not in the US, but definitely in Europe). How is that possible? How the Starbucks Corporation became the largest coffee chain in the world without having the best coffee? Branding is the answer. They go further than just a coffee cup. They offer the “Starbucks experience”.
Now let’s take a look at Starbucks brand image.
You will see how simple their website and social media looks, but if investigated carefully, it is clear that everything put into the website is carefully and meticulously calculated and optimized for customers. They are very self-aware and conscious of what kind of image they want to convey towards their fans. This is a great example, looking at it through this perspective is a lot of fun !
So, here’s their webpage. Notice that they have a certain color palette for this season. You will notice that they regularly update their color palette according to the updates on the webpage. As a startup, you won’t necessarily have to change colors around your website that often, but see how the green is well anchored all around the page, the menu, even the picture has hints of the same shade of green, conveying the message that they are a well established brand and have a consistent image across the website.
Now, before moving on to their social media, notice the dark gray backdrop, that is used as a background, and a bit of brown of the table in the image behind the apron. Starbucks is all about coffee, so having a shade of brown that reminds us of what they sell is also important. And green is not haphazardly chosen, by using green (and not blue, or pink or purple or any shade that comes to mind), they want to tell users that they care about the earth, given that they value fair trade and our ecosystem. Regardless of what they do, they are capable of telling and convincing their fans that they are a good and honest company.
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Here’s their Twitter/X (start seeing a pattern?)
Although on Instagram they are freer to do what they like, notice that most pictures make sure that they have the green straw; even on the first six images, at least one has the famous mermaid logo, and notice how the picture on the upper right corner has a to-do list, with the nice shade of green. The bottom middle image has nice shades of brown. Consistency is key to a successful Instagram marketing strategy. So it’s all around consistent, with a pop of the instagram vibe.
But their social media manager sure knows that each and every image should be curated and convey the same brand identity. You see how each social media platform has its own inner workings and formulae, but that you need certain elements that anchor your brand image.
It’s time to map an effective customer experience and build a brand that stands out?
Mini Summary of our Starbucks Brand Analysis
- Like many brands, Starbucks carefully curates and controls their public image through a conscious effort and well designed visual communication methods; in fact there is barely any text that says who they are, everything is visual, which is the pinnacle aim of any brand. Starbucks has created a great brand storytelling and you should get inspired by them for your business.
- Their Webpage, Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram convey the same image by using the same cover pictures and color palettes.
- The mermaid logo is their anchor, but it could have been anything. They are well aware of what they look like, and carefully manage their brand image.
- Colors are not haphazardly chosen; green invokes the idea of nature whereas shades of brown remind us of the product itself, coffee.
We looked at a great example, here’s how you too can achieve the ultimate perfection when it comes to brand image.
1. Choose the right size
This may sound like a no brainer, but you wouldn’t believe how many small business owners fail at doing this. Choose the right format, size and shape for the appropriate social media. With a quick google search, you can easily access the right information and reformat your pictures.
2. Pick a brand color palette generator, and stick to it
Yes, there are millions of colors under the rainbow, but whatever you do, make sure that you have a certain color palette that you can refer to on a regular basis. Make sure the color palette conveys the correct message. There are many color palette generators which are tons of fun to use, so make sure that you check them out as well. Click here for the best tools to create the right color palette.
3. Let your brand image convey a consistent idea
If your webpage and logo are all modern and artsy in terms of design, don’t put floral images or pastels (unless you are trying to be ironic and doing it on purpose). If you are rustic, stay rustic, if you are high end, be high end. Don’t try to appeal to everyone, the people who get your message, the people towards whom your brand sticks, will follow you.
4. Fonts matter
Don’t forget that it’s not only about pictures. Even if people don’t read text that much anymore, visually speaking, fonts should also be consistent with your brand. If you are edgy, a cursive font won’t work for you. If you are cute, a very serious typeface might appear heavy and out of context.
5. Social Media Posts are an extension of your brand
You have the same logo across all platforms. But it doesn’t end there. Your social media posts have to be consistent with the brand’s visual references. If you have a flat design, don’t try to create social media posts with multiple dimensions and 3D looking images.
If you have a pastel color palette, stick to those colors and don’t go bright and vibrant ones. You can filter pictures to be ever so slightly paler, or brighter. You don’t have to overdo it; you just don’t want to appear confused, or indecisive. At Growth Hackers, we have helped startups turn these exact steps into real growth by shaping brand images that stay consistent, recognizable, and impossible to forget.
2 Comments
Absolutely. Brands need to find their focus. Thanks for this. It’s a very important message businesses need to hear!
So many start ups are missing this extremely important step: find your focus, what the business is, who is it for, what is the promise? You may be eager to create the logo and get rolling as soon as possible, but long term success depends on finding this focus. In the end it will actually make things much quicker and faster. Everything your business does can relate back to this brand promise and the identity created. You won’t be creating something new every time.
It’s too competitive out there so maintaining a good public image is actually cumbersome. Starbucks sets an example for startups in B2C industry. Customers in this day and age seek trust and familiarity (and ease, not to forget). In the quest of reliability they don’t just evaluate your product/service but also take notice of how they are treated and entertained (many more things). With a focus one can offer what the target audience seeks.
PS. Thanks for the great post Irene.