Entrepreneur Magazine’s November issue featured an article regarding a new-ish concept that Starbucks has embarked upon.  Many companies carry a common goal, a desire for international brand recognition and dominance.  Well, in some industries, that may not be the way to go.  Starbucks, one of those international branding phenomena, is actually “hiding” their brand within a few new locations.  What?! Yes, they are practically invisible as the the backer of a few new shops being opened.  With a billion dollar namesake, why would you forsake it? Well, coffee happens to be an area where indie is in.  Local, hip, one-of-kind, shoot-from-the-hip, is desirable.  People like their coffee shop, not some international cookie-cutter.  The new “15th Ave Coffee & Tea” is just that, local, hip, and still Starbucks (although you may not realize it).  The new coffee house features many ideas and innovations typically found only in local establishments with a coffee connoisseur founder.  That is in-part because of the liberty given to the new shop to run as such.  Protocols are a little more liberal but carry the support and resources of a powerhouse company in Starbucks.  Also, Starbucks is not the only one embarking on this trend.  As the article points out, Great Harvest Bread Co. has done this since the beginning. Similar ideas are coming out of Marriott Hotels and others.

Shirk your long standing brand?

NO! Don’t lose the power of your ol‘ reliable, simply expand into niches that are not accessible by it.  Companies like Starbucks are making these efforts to not only capture substantial market share (per the article, 57% of coffee shop market is mom and pop shops) but also to get back to its early Seattle roots. This does not mean their is not place for go anywhere and get it reliability of a mega-brand.  It’s like McDonald’s, when I was in Spain, the burgers were the same and sometimes you don’t feel like a “surprise”.  Starbucks will still have that kind of pull with the addition of the niche market.  In fact, you will likely see cross-innovations as the newer, more “entrepreneurial” indie shops create new ideas that can be replicated and added to the slower moving mega-chain. Also, the mega-chain efficiencies can be scaled down to help the mini shop.  It’s a win-win.

So what can I do?

Looking at interesting trends from larger players in the business world can be very valuable to the small business in some cases as their research budget is just bit larger than yours.  In other cases, its not so beneficial as they tend to move much slower.  Changing direction when you have the level of momentum of a mega company is extremely difficult and this agility of small business often puts the entrepreneur 10 steps ahead.  In this case, It is a lesson in branding and keeping your entrepreneurial agility.  Even as your company grows, keep a level of agility that will allow you to change direction and/or innovate when appropriate.  With your brand, identify what is truly a powerful branding strategy in your industry and incorporate your findings into your own strategy.  Is the one-of-a-kind, small, local brand the most effective or is an international common place, trusted brand better.  Maybe a combination.  In the first case, your scaled up strategy is becoming a conglomerate of mini-brands as you grow versus one mega-brand.  Or, as Starbucks, you may have a larger brand with many subsidiary mini-brands.  There are pros and cons of course.  The multiple mini-brand strategy allows for agility but is often inefficient while the one big brand is efficient but less agile.  Often the innovation is building efficiencies in the first strategy or creating agility within the second.  It is simply a matter of identifying the best approach for your industry and incorporating it into your strategy from a 30,000 foot view.

What struggles have you faced with your own branding, identity within your industry?