Katie Couric Interview

The interview between Katie Couric and Howard Schultz.

Summary

Katie Couric, CBS News anchor, began the interview with Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, by asking him why he couldn’t say “small, medium and large” for coffee sizes like others. Howard Schultz answered that it’s happened suddenly, when he went to Italy and saw these names and it just made sense to him. Couric’s second question was about the reason for Starbucks closing so many stores and cutting jobs. Schultz answered that it happened because of economic crisis. Couric was interested in finding out if Schultz had had a business plan for a recession. Schultz answered that he didn’t think they had a business plan for a severe recession and supported his answer by saying that history demonstrated to them that a downturn in the economy would not affect them, and in fact, they would be recession-proof.  At the end Couric asked about the possibility of Starbucks lowering prices. Schultz noted that they were selling more than just a cup of coffee. He also added that they would offer discount cards and less pricey coffee.

My opinion about Starbucks.

Actually I am not a big fan of coffee and so I am not a big fun of Starbucks either. Also, I didn’t see something new in Starbucks idea. For me Starbucks has the same approach as McDonalds, so there is not anything new in their marketing strategy. But I know that Starbucks is a morning routine for millions of Americans and a lot of people accept it as the de facto coffee shop.