Small Book, Big Results!

QUICK WITTED – Saying The Right Thing To Win Big 

Around1972 a small coffee maker in Seattle, Washington named Starbucks was trying to increase the company’s sales with an extremely limited marketing budget.  

At the time they served just a limited menu of drinks, all served in either a tall or venti size cup. The tall was their number one seller.  Most customers just couldn’t  fathom drinking an entire venti. The venti appeared to be way too much coffee when positioned next to the tall. 

With a limited marketing budget, Starbucks had the idea to implement the grande size drink as an attempt to increase coffee sales and consumption. 

Quickly thereafter the grande became the number one seller, taking over the tall size’s popularity. The venti stepped in and took the number two spot. 

The reality is that when an individual is confronted with three choices, they will almost always pick the middle, or the perceived middle, which in this case is the grande. In conjunction, suddenly the venti did not seem so large anymore when  positioned next to the grande. Thus the grande became the best seller and the venti became the number two best seller. With that result Starbucks was able to increase their sales. It was a small change that yielded big results.