How would the image of Starbucks be affected if they did advertising?

Not if they do it like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2J8KJDsqqY

so snobbish

If they did then you’d end up paying $10 for your latte !

I don’t think they need advertising. They are already popular enough. Nowadays the popular brands only advertise when they are releasing something new.

depending on the advertising (print, TV, radio, bus stop bill board things, etc), as long as it would align with the overall marketing theme of starbucks it should go down well. but yeh they already have a real strong brand association in the cafe industry so any advertising would just be to reinforce their presence. so any ads they may want to do doesnt really have to be too grand i reckon. do any cafes really advertise? i can only think of mccafe

They do PR, which is brand reinforcement. They do some advertising through coupons and special promotions.

I’ve seen Starbuck’s billboards. I reckon they were paid for by the franchise owner, though.

Its all about status in some weird way. And once you’ve added an addictive substance like caffeine – who needs advertising?

I’ve seen print and television ads for Starbucks routinely in this market.

Each Starbucks is privately owned so that probably has to do with the variations in market saturation with regards to advertising.

. . . so, I posted a link to a Starbucks ad in the first answer. Maybe that wasn’t clear enough. There are ads for Starbucks. Paid for by Starbucks. They just seem to mostly be disguised as public service messages.

Which is the opposite of one of it’s main competitors Dunkin Doughnuts when I visited New England they advertise non stop ! and their quality sucks you’re better off getting your coffee and pastries at the local supermarket !!

Here’s a funny take on the SB proliferation..( I somehow just knew when I moved to Houston, the end was near, but I never would have guessed THIS near…)

I’ve seen a lot of product placement in films and television for Starbucks.
Anybody remember this?

I’ve seen billboards, advertizements, coupons, and products that look identical to their coffee cups up for sale in Publics (a grocery store chain in the U.S.). You seem to be right about TV ads, however. I’ve not seen a Starbuck’s TV commercial since I got a TV 5 months ago. Thank God. They are expensive enough as it is. Probably the reason they had to close up shop in 1,600 locations as a result of the housing bubble bursting.