Another Cup of “The Starbucks Factor”
March 18th, 2008 | by This is China! |
I coined the term “The Starbucks Factor” during an interview in last year’s June edition of the China Economic Review. I said it tongue-in-cheek, half-jokingly, a peripheral observation I’ve made in the scores of second-, third- and fourth-tier cities and Economic Development Zones I’ve visited throughout China: cities that seem serious about attracting foreign investment seem to pony-up a Starbucks.
Now, “The Starbucks Factor” is back, in this month’s March issue of The Shanghai Review. The magazine has been running a series these past months on Emerging Hubs in China. This month’s Hub is Suzhou, my hometown. It’s a well-written and exhaustive treatment of the city’s condition and future development plans. And as picturesque as the city is, the sidebar in which I’m quoted on the Starbucks Factor in Suzhou makes the salient point that “in competition with near rival Hangzhou, Suzhou, from a leisure perspective, is still lagging behind in creativity and promotions.” I believe that’s as much the manufacturing legacy and success bestowed on Suzhou by the Singaporean investment in the Suzhou Industrial Park as the fact that historically Hangzhou’s West Lake has always been a huge draw for tourists - domestic and international. Hangzhou has played that leisure hand well. Suzhou still has a lot to learn.
Anyway, it is nice to be identified with a quasi-concept with a catchy title; after all, isn’t that what we consultants live for: to be identified with some bit of business jargon (though I’d never want to be identified with “business process re-engineering”; gosh, what an ugly-sounding term.)?
But “The Starbucks Factor” has a certain kind of ring.
Think I can squeeze a free double espresso out of the company?
