The last few years have seen the emergence of branding experts: Individuals who espouse the importance of gaining a market foothold by being a recognizable, trusted brand.

That pattern clearly worked for Starbucks as they became the coffee brand–they were at one with the term. Now that the economy is questioning how much individuals are willing to pay for a cup of coffee, their brand has suffered greatly. They have tried numerous tactics to establish or re-establish themselves in the marketplace. Search the company’s name in my blog to follow their various strategies.

Yet, today there is news that questions their allegiance to the brand game. In an about-face, they decided to use their homegrown audience, Seattle, and test market dropping the Starbucks name in some locations and renaming the stores based on individual locations. The goal is to create a neighborhood feel without a big brand name and become more of a coffeehouse that serves alcoholic beverages and offers live music.

I can see it now in New York City with its 5 boroughs and strong neighborhood affiliations: There could be names like 5th Avenue Beans or Gramercy Joe’s. Test the concept for your area by playing the local renaming game. Maybe they should hold a nationwide contest and let people in the communities rename the stores!

This is a clear wait-and-see approach to marketing. The irony, of course, is that they wanted to be every neighborhood’s favorite store, but the brand’s proliferation on every corner created a backlash.

I think it is an interesting strategy, but reverse branding has its own set of problems including marketing and renaming costs. Are individuals that naive that this week’s newly opened “Corner Java,” which last week was the closest Starbucks, is now their favorite coffeehouse?

We’ll see.