Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-2017
Capstone Advisor
Hua Jiang
Honors Reader
Maria Russell
Capstone Major
Public Relations
Capstone College
Public Communications
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Professional
Subject Categories
Public Relations and Advertising
Abstract
Over the past few decades, a cup of morning coffee has transformed from a simple supplement, with cream and a dash of sugar, to a daily necessity, luxury and investment. In fact, consumers spent over $74.2 billion on coffee in 2015 alone (The Economic Impact of the Coffee Industry, 2016). Within this billion-dollar industry, a combined 4.3 billion cups are purchased from two coffee powerhouses, Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks Coffee (Lepore, 2011). These industry tycoons can be found brewing beans all day long, serving their daily out-the-door lines of loyal, eager customers. This capstone will take readers on a journey through the history of the coffee bean, the exploding popularity of the coffee shop, the eventual rise of the coffee industry’s two major players, and provide an in-depth analysis of the core promotional and business principles utilized by Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts in appealing to their target audiences. Grab your favorite coffee brew, sit back and enjoy this detailed behind-the-scenes look at why you may prefer one latte over another.
Recommended Citation
Pisano, Laina, "Coffee Powerhouses: Utilizing PR and Marketing" (2017). Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All. 1031.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/1031
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
