Starbucks Admits to "Watering Down" of Brand Experience

A liitle over a week ago I wrote about Starbucks facing the danger of losing focus and the brand identity that has been an enormous strength. So I was pleasantly surprised in getting last night's wrap-up from the Wall Street Journal to find a story about Starbucks. It seems chairman Howard Schultz wrote in an internal memo that in the drive to expand, "we have had to make a series of decisions that, in retrospect, have led to the watering down of the Starbucks experience, and, what some might call the commoditization of our brand." I'd like to commend Steve McKee for having brought up the issue in my interview with him. After the Advertising Age article appears, I'll post more from our conversation, as he made some interesting points - particularly for fast-growing companies - about where they can find momentum turn to mire.