Howard Schultz is like a mega-church pastor. He has many followers worldwide. He has formulated a strong brand identity. He has his message. He did take the ‘high road’ when it came to the Philadelphia incident this year. He made a point to train his staff rather than make excuses for bad racist behaviour. Good Marketing. Psychology at work in the marketplace. He talks about creating a ‘brand halo’. Like Hillsong Church used their great worship department to build a huge brand halo and then added preaching and mission and education. So, too, Schultz wants to change up the Starbucks branding by adding a few classy roasteries to take the basic Starbucks messaging to a whole new level.

Schultz had a dream. He had a couple of dreams! His goal, before retiring as CEO, was to develop an arm of the Starbucks group that could be classed as a luxury – high end – the First Class seats in the coffee business.

So,like Apostle Paul – he wanted to become ‘ a Jew to the Jews to win some’ (1 Cor 9:20), but in his case, it was to grow the business to serve the perfect Italian espresso to the Italians…. He wanted to meet the best, head-on, and to prove that he could have a spot at the table considered to be the birthplace of the coffee aristocracy. Yes, so that he might make more money and notoriety. Nothing wrong with that in the world of business. In business (and who knows maybe in White House politics) he has maintained a good record over all these years.

How beautiful is this first Starbucks recently opened in Milano? The perfect place to enjoy a cuppa joe.

We have a brand halo, and his name is Jesus. He gives us notoriety, and with Him, we can go into territories where others might fear rejection or death. He needs no marketing or promotion. He is the full package. He has his own Agent. We sit around boardroom tables politely negotiating new strategies, renovations of old skins, conferences and smart multi-pronged approaches. Good marketing? Good stewardship?

He says - just Follow Me. I’ll provide the bells and whistles

“The halo effect is a term for a consumer’s favoritism toward a line of products due to positive experiences with other products by this maker. The halo effect is correlated to brand strength and brand loyalty and contributes to brand equity.”