Howard: No.
Host: …or Storbo. Oh that's rubbish, is it?
Howard: Well, it's Melville's book, Moby Dick, and it was the first mate and that was the name in 1971.
Host: Right. And why…why particularly did that name come from that book?
Howard: The 15)seafaring 16)heritage of how coffee is brought to America through ships and it was a romantic name, a name that stuck with people and…and, you know, the kind of name that I think has a little bit of magic to it.
Host: You're a massive brand now, …
Howard: Yes.
Host: … but there has been … there is a reaction against some big global brands the likes of McDonald's …
Howard: Sure. 
Host: …and even Starbucks, and you've been criticized for, frankly, in some cases, in a very small number of cases, but actually removing your brand from some of the shops so that they appear to be local stores when in fact they're not. Why have you done that?
Howard: I think the challenge for any company that gets big is how do you get big and stay small? How do you maintain intimacy with the customer and the people that work for your company? As well as constant levels of 17)innovation? So we've opened a number of stores—just two here… in Seattle—that are new kinds of stores, mostly for experimentation and learning. The real story here is the return of growth of the company, return of our customers. And I think the way in which the… there's a level of trust and confidence in the Starbucks brand and the 18)equity of the experience.
Host: So, I mean, you said there's trust and confidence in the brand, and yet you've removed the brand from a couple of stores. You…that is not the sort of strategy that you're going to …
Howard: No.
Host: …19)roll out across the whole of the country.
Howard: Well, it's not removing the brand; it's creating other platforms for the company to grow. Many companies have different brands, but our main source of revenue and growth is the Starbucks brand.
Host: You live in Seattle, which is also home to Bill Gates. I just wonder …
Howard: Yeah.
Host: … whether they put something in the water in Seattle that's…is good for 20)entrepreneurs there.
Howard: Coffee!
Host: Yes.
(laughing)
Host: It was an open goal, wasn't it a nice little 21)plug? You're gonna say it's romantic again, aren't you? Many thanks for joining us, Howard Shultz.
Howard: My pleasure. Thank you.
霍华德:不是。
主持人: ……还是叫“Storbo”?胡说的吧?
霍华德:其实是出自梅尔维尔的小说《白鲸记》,就是那位大副的名字,也是我们1971年取的名字。
主持人:好的。那么为什么要特别挑选那本书中的那个名字呢?
霍华德:(因为)那段咖啡是怎样经船运到美国的航海史,加上“星巴克”是个浪漫的名字,大家熟悉易记的名字……就是那种我觉得有点魔力的名字。
主持人:现在你们已经是个规模宏大的品牌了……
霍华德:是的。
主持人:但是现在一直有……有一种抗拒力,是针对像“麦当劳”这类的大型国际品牌的……
霍华德:没错。
主持人:甚至连星巴克,连你们也受过炮轰,坦白说吧,你们有一些店,很少数的,会把品牌标识去掉,使得咖啡店貌似当地的普通小店,而实际上并非如此。为什么要那样做呢?
霍华德:我觉得,任何一家规模日益壮大的公司所面临的挑战是怎样在扩展的同时又保持灵活小巧,怎样和顾客以及员工之间保持亲密的沟通,还有怎样持续创新。所以我们开了几家新店,只有两家,在西雅图,是新型的分店,主要作一些新尝试以探索学习。现在的实际情况是,公司利润重新增长,顾客也回流。我觉得这反映了大家对“星巴克”品牌及其体验价值具有相当的信任度和信心。
主持人:既然你说大家对这品牌有信任度有信心,为什么又会在几家分店去品牌化呢?你……那不会是你打算……
霍华德:不是这样的。
主持人:……在全国推广的什么新策略吧?
霍华德:并不是去品牌化;这只是为公司的业务增长创造其他平台而已。很多公司都会拥有不同的品牌系列,而我们的收入及增长来源主要还是星巴克这一品牌。
主持人:你住在西雅图,比尔·盖茨也住那里。我会想……
霍华德:是啊。
主持人:……是不是西雅图的水里给放了什么东西……能特别滋生企业家的?
霍华德:咖啡!
主持人:是啊。
(笑)
主持人:好像是留了个空门给你射球一样,这难道不是一个很好的推销机会吗?你肯定又会说咖啡很浪漫了,是吧?非常感谢霍华德·舒尔茨今天来到我们的节目,谢谢你。
霍华德:荣幸之至。非常感谢。
