--- title: McStarbucks description: When all creativity is gone, when any new idea for value creation is lost, the answer appears - discount. image: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3393/3267299532_52a0fabb29.jpg?v=0 --- ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner # McStarbucks [ Doug Davidoff ](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/author/doug-davidoff) Feb 9, 2009 8:00:04 AM When all creativity is gone, when any [new idea for value creation](https://www.imaginellc.com/business-development/ezine/AvoidCommodity1.html) is lost, the answer appears - discount.  News that Starbucks [is launching its first value meal](http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2009-02-08-value-menu-starbucks_N.htm) is the final nail in the Starbucks coffin.  It is time for Howard Schultz to step down.  For the group from Seattle that made "triple shot, grande, skim latte" sound normal to admit defeat.  As a longtime fan of Starbucks, I am (unfortunately) not shocked by the announcement.  Starbucks has been falling down the discount trail for some time. Check out the [article in USA Today](http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2009-02-08-value-menu-starbucks_N.htm) - it's a great lesson for any business owner/executive of how to contribute to your own problems.  Some of my favorite excerpts, with my commentary in italics. Starbucks was a great story.  They did something special (and polarizing) for a unique group of people.  For years, they were as focused on ***Who*** their customers were as Apple is.  They didn't kow-tow to their competition, they practiced customer-centered innovation.  They grew aggressively and carefully.  Then they believed they were the cause of their success.  They forgot it was their customers who granted them what I call a Demand Creation Monopoly™.  They stopped doing what made them successful to begin with.  Then, when they realized they were in trouble, they acted in the very same way as companies they used to displace by trying to shortcut their way to success. In today's economy (and frankly in every economy we will see in the future), the recipe for success is clear - serve a unique set of customers uniquely well.  Anything else will bring failure - sooner or later. [Performance](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/topic/performance), [B2B Sales Strategy](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/topic/b2b-sales-strategy) ## Read On [![Brand Destruction](https://www.liftenablement.com/hs-fs/file-361468241-png/blog-files/brand-destruction.png?width=352&name=brand-destruction.png) ](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/brand-destruction) ### [Brand Destruction](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/brand-destruction) Verizon Wireless and AT&T are in an ad war right now. First, Verizon came out with their “There’s a... 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