Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is facing heated backlash for defending a $9 cup of coffee as a worthwhile, “premium” experience.
Appearing this past Wednesday on The Wall Street Journal’s “What’s News AM” podcast, Niccol argued that Starbucks is faring well despite troubling economic conditions and rising income disparity.
“What we’re seeing is people, they want to have aspecial experience,” he said. “And regardless of what your income level is, in some cases, a $9 experience does feel like you’re splurging. And then what that means is we have to make it worthwhile.”
“And then in other cases, people believe, ‘Well, this is a really affordable premium experience,’ because they’re saying like, ‘Well, it’s less than $10 and I get a really premium experience,’” he added.
Starbucks CEO defends a cup of coffee costing $9
He says the customers needs to just not think about it as a $9 cup of coffee, you’re paying for the “experience” of getting a Starbucks coffee
“In some cases a $9 experience does feel like you’re splurging, and then what that…pic.twitter.com/55R9xOoQEZ
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According to atranscriptof the full conversation, Niccol was later asked by interviewer Luke Vargas about “perceptions of the economy” being “worse than they’ve been since the ’70s, since ’08, since the pandemic.”
“These are some pretty bad reference points here. Just how do you market to that consumer?” Vargas continued.
Source: VidNews » Feed
