When Starbucks opened its first store in Saigon, it must have been a big blast.
Centrally located, visibly in-your-face, upscale e.g. wifi and air-conditioned.
Early stage.
When I had my cup of Starbucks, like this morning, in a Virginian Mall, there was no fanfare, no fuss.
Late stage.
Same store and story (pour your heart into it) but in different contexts.
Geographical expansion, and brand extension (more international e.g. Starbucks on the Allure).
With each new day, we add-on to our narratives new twists and turns with challenges in between.
The story of Starbucks as a brand, or the stories of our lives as biographical history, both evolve and encompass elements outside of our control.
Good to great stories require comparable-in-size conflicts.
But for many of us, ambition and adventure are better lived out by actors on the screen than us on the street.
Still, experiencing the tranquility of an enclosed Mall vs the bustling round-about near Ben Thanh Market, I felt out of context.
My body is here, overcoming jet lag. But my mind still replay the sound and sight of Vietnam (where people obviously don’t need a coat or jacket).
I know the iced latte is more popular there, while in Virginia, in the winter, it’s the opposite.
And the tip? That remains to be seen.
To top it all, my sister ran into an old American GI who had been in Da Nang and Hue 44 years ago.
He couldn’t stop talking about his experience back in Nam.
Had he stayed on and waited long enough there, he wouldn’t have to come back across the world, in new context, for that cup of coffee.
I am sure when he first returned 44 years ago, he would have felt the same. The body is here, adjusting. But the mind is else where. That’s how we are: facing similar set of challenges from the outside, but the interior reservoir and responses are different. It makes us different and unique. It is that pause, however long, between stimulus and response, that defines who we are e.g. Walmart door opens on Black Friday (stimulus), people push and jump for stampede (response).
Same Starbucks, two different localities. East vs West. “And now, the end is near, final curtain…. ” In our own way, each of us is a Star in this Starbucks universe. They can recreate the franchise anywhere, but there is only one you, in or out of context but only one narrative. Own it. Celebrate it and don’t forget to share it. Your personal brand is un-franchisable. It rocks!
Thang Nguyen 555 