Profile... Selling coffee culture to a region of tea-drinkers

Arun Bhardwaj was born into the beverages business. But it was tea, not coffee, that stimulated the Starbucks Asia-Pacific marketing director when he was young. Raised on an Indian tea plantation, his early experience with coffee was an unsuccessful attempt by his father to plant it.

Now, based at Starbucks’ regional headquarters in Hong Kong, he is the man responsible for driving the acceptance of the Starbucks ‘lifestyle’ across the region. 

He has shifted into his new role during a pivotal period for the brand. After years of prosperity and plaudits, Starbucks has been dogged by marketing difficulties recently, from sustained criticism that the Starbucks brand no longer packs the emotional punch it once did, to the brand’s rather unfortunate international status as a lightning-rod for anti-US sentiment. 

On these topics he is less than effusive, opting for the party line. “Through our communications, our focus is to talk about the uniqueness of the Starbucks experience and how we as a company have focused on ethically sourcing coffee, roasting that coffee and delivering world-class coffee beverages — that’s really our story,” he says, uncomfortably. “The media writes what it writes but our story is unique and our connection with our consumers is special.”

Starbucks is banking on growth in Asia, particularly China, to offset the slump in Western markets. Despite high-profile crises like the closure of its Beijing Forbidden City branch following an online protest, Starbucks continues to grow at a healthy clip in the region. 

Growth in Asia has been at a double-digit pace in recent years, and it now has 1,600 stores, across 10 markets. More to the point, it seems well-positioned to benefit from the growth in affluent, young Asians. The company has even begun brewing Asia-specific blends which it is introducing in China, Singapore and Malaysia. 

However, because of poor results in the US, Starbucks has had to downsize its international development plans — to 700 stores this year, rather than 900. Internationally, margins have shrunk. One analyst has stated that “substantially all” of Starbucks’ profits are generated by the US operations.

As such, Bhardwaj — “a smart guy and nicer than most”, according to one agency source — clearly does not have the easiest of tasks on hand. “It’s not a media-heavy brand so it’s about communicating the Starbucks experience through our service, partners and store environment,” says the 41-year-old. “That’s our opportunity. We’re quite new in some Asian markets, but it’s about how we bring that experience to life.”
For Bhardwaj, this means turning every Starbucks store into a “home away from home”. Rather than just selling coffee, Bhardwaj is hoping to market an entire way of life: the coffeehouse culture that has proved so popular in the West. 

It’s a lifestyle he feels part of. Despite his tea-focused childhood, Bhardwaj has developed a passion for his employer’s products — he favours the complex-sounding double-tall sugar-free vanilla latte. At every stop on Bhardwaj’s career path — through the Philippines, China and Indonesia — he explains that he found the brand’s offering difficult to resist. Eventually, he joined the firm as MD of its Singapore operation in 2007.

“I’d been drinking Starbucks for a number of years — at least seven,” he says of the move. “Obviously, I loved the coffee, but I also loved going to the store. There’s a sense of energy and connection in every store — that’s what made me a Starbucks fan.”

Bhardwaj is happiest when he can wax lyrical about Starbucks’ ability to reach every type of consumer. “Everyone is our customer. Our message is widely communicated — there is not one particular kind of person or demographic. People come to us for our coffee and they get service with a smile.” 

Bhardwaj is evasive about the challenges Starbucks faces in a region awash with tea drinkers, but his willingness to talk about new media initiatives illustrates the importance the company places on reaching a younger generation. In particular, he outlines a Korean blogger outreach programme that has successfully seeded the brand with online opinion leaders. 

“We have to be more creative and have a multi-dimensional approach to media relations, but we’re getting our message out there successfully,” he concludes. “If we weren’t, the brand wouldn’t be growing at the rate it is.”

Arun Bhardwaj’s CV

2008 Vice-president, marketing, Starbucks Coffee Asia-Pacific
2007 Managing director, Starbucks Coffee Singapore
1999 Director for overseas operations, PT Mitra Adiperkasa (listed multi-format retailer)
1996 Senior product manager, Sky City Auckland
1990 Various marketing roles, consumer appliances and apparel