INTRODUCTION

Starbucks Corporation, doing business as Starbucks Coffee, is an American coffee company and

coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the

world ahead of UK rival Costa Coffee, with 22,551 stores in 65 countries and territories, including 12,739

in the United States, 1,868 in China, 1,395 in Canada, 1,117 in Japan and 830 in the United Kingdom.

Starbucks locations serve hot and cold beverages, whole-bean coffee, micro ground instant coffee,

espresso, cafe latte, full-leaf teas, pastries, and snacks. Most stores also sell pre-packaged food items,

hot and cold sandwiches, and items such as mugs and tumblers. Starbucks Evenings locations also offer

a variety of beers, wines, and appetizers after 4 p.m. Through the Starbucks Entertainment division and

Hear Music brand, the company also markets books, music, and film. Some of the company's products

are seasonal or specific to the locality of the store. Starbucks-brand coffee, ice cream and bottled cold

coffee drinks are also sold at grocery stores.

From Starbucks' founding in 1971 as a Seattle coffee bean roaster and retailer, the company has

expanded rapidly. Between 1987 and 2007, Starbucks opened on average two new stores every day.

Starbucks had been profitable as a local company in Seattle in the early 1980s but lost money on its late

1980s expansion into the Midwest and British Columbia. Its fortunes did not reverse until the fiscal year

of 1989-1990, when it registered a small profit of $812,000. By the time it expanded into California in

1991 it had become trendy. The first store outside the United States or Canada opened in Tokyo in 1996,

and overseas stores now constitute almost one third of Starbucks' stores. The company planned to open

a net of 900 new stores outside of the United States in 2009, but has announced 300 store closures in

the United States since 2008.

FOUNDING

The first Starbucks opened in Seattle, Washington, on March 30, 1971, by three partners who met while

they were students at the University of San Francisco: English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev

Siegl, and writer Gordon Bowker. The three were inspired to sell high-quality coffee beans and

equipment by coffee roasting entrepreneur Alfred Peet after he taught them his style of roasting beans.

Originally the company was to be called Pequod, after a whaling ship from Moby-Dick, but some of the

co-founders rejected that name. Instead, the company took the name of the chief mate on the Pequod:

Starbuck.

However, Bowker has a different recollection of how the company got its name. He recalls that the co-

founders were desperately close to naming the company "Cargo House" until Heckler mentioned that he

thought words that began with "st" were powerful ones. That led Bowker to make a list of "st" words,

and somebody somehow saw the old mining town of Starbo in an old mining map.

The Starbucks store at 1912 Pike Place. This is the second location of the original Starbucks, which was

at 2000 Western Avenue from 1971 to 1976.

The first Starbucks cafe was located at 2000 Western Avenue from 1971–1976. This cafe was later

moved to 1912 Pike Place Market; never to be relocated again. During this time, the company only sold

roasted whole coffee beans and did not yet brew coffee to sell. The only brewed coffee served in the

store was free samples. During their first year of operation, they purchased green coffee beans from

Peet's, and then began buying directly from growers.

Starbucks India – What They Say

It happens millions of times each week – a customer receives a drink from a Starbucks barista – but each

interaction is unique.

It’s just a moment in time – just one hand reaching over the counter to present a cup to another

outstretched hand.

But it’s a connection.

We make sure everything we do honors that connection – from our commitment to the highest quality

coffee in the world, to the way we engage with our customers and communities to do business

responsibly.

From our beginnings as a single store over forty years ago, in every place that we’ve been, and every

place that we touch, we've tried to make it a little better than we found it.

History

The Starbucks Story

Our story began in 1971. Back then we were a roaster and retailer of whole bean and ground coffee, tea

and spices with a single store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Today, we are privileged to welcome

millions of customers through our doors every day, in more than 17,000 locations in over 50 countries.

Folklore

Starbucks is named after the first mate in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Our logo is also inspired by the

sea – featuring a twin tailed siren from Greek mythology.‐

Starbucks Mission

Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a

time.

Our Coffee

We’ve always believed in serving the best coffee possible. It's our goal for all of our coffee to be grown

under the highest standards of quality, using ethical sourcing practices. Our coffee buyers personally

travel to coffee farms in Latin America, Africa and Asia to select the highest quality Arabica beans. Once

these quality beans arrive at our roasting plants, Starbucks experts bring out the balance and rich flavor

of the beans through the signature Starbucks Roast™.

Our Stores

Our stores are a welcoming third place for meeting friends and family, enjoying a quiet moment alone

with a book or simply finding a familiar place in a new city.

Total stores: 17,009 (as of January 2, 2011)

8,870 Company owned‐8,139 Licensed stores

Operating in more than 50 countries

Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China,

Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, El Salvador, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong,

Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand,

Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi

Arabia, Scotland, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United

Arab Emirates, United States and Wales.

Our Partners

We offer the finest coffees in the world, grown, prepared and served by the finest people. Our

employees, who we call partners, are at the heart of the Starbucks Experience. Our store partners are

committed to coffee knowledge, product expertise and customer service. We believe in treating our

partners with respect and dignity. We are proud to offer two landmark programs for our partners:

comprehensive health coverage for eligible full‐ and part time partners and equity in the company‐

through our Bean Stock Program.

Brand Prism

Starbucks is an American global coffee company based and started at Pike Place market in Seattle,

Washington. The chairperson and president is Howard Schultz. Starbucks is well known for selling coffee

but also for various hot and cold beverages, pastries, sandwiches and other snake. The idea of the

company is to create a comfortable environment to coffee lovers. They target working classes, students

and coffee lovers. Starbucks sometimes offer 24 business hours for a person who needs beverages, food

and coffee. The idea of company is against the traditional coffee houses and express coffee shops.

Overall Strategy

Starbucks is the #1 most engaged brand online in Altimeter Report 2009. Their social media team

started up with only six people, but now receives the highest engagement score. What is the magic of

Starbucks? Since Starbucks is an ironic brand with history, they have strict control over the quality of

each coffee bean and each cup of coffee. Different with other coffee houses, the original idea of

Starbucks is to provide a comfortable environment for the coffee lovers and local neighbors. One of the

most successful marketing strategies they apply is focusing on customer satisfaction and creating a

community. By fulfilling the customer needs for uniqueness (such as unique signature on coffee cups)

and providing customers a website (My Starbucks ideas) to express their idea of improving the brand

and store. Starbucks had triumph in using a strategy of word of mouth to receive higher brand

awareness and recognition for the most effective media campaign. In addition, Starbucks focus their

brand marketing on increasing loyalty of existing customers and building customer relationship rather

than focusing only on sales growth. With this propose, Starbuck becomes one of the earliest companies

adopted the use of social media. Their social media strategy is built around their company website and 6

additional social platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube and My Starbucks

ideas (Schoultz).

Social Media Tool

My Starbucks ideas & Frappuccino.com

My Starbucks Ideas is recently celebrating for its five-year anniversary. This online community site

published by Starbucks had launched more than 150,000 ideas from customers, leading to the

implementation of 277 new innovations for Starbucks. This site allows people to share, vote, discuss and

put into action of ideas on how to enhance the Starbucks experience (Starbucks). By publishing an online

community website to customers, Starbucks uses the word of mouth strategy and make customers talk

about their store and brand. This site also innovate new idea of company and what customers want. In

addition, My Starbucks Ideas helps to increase customer involvement, motivation and address the

acquired needs. By connecting with marketing strategy concept, customers feel they are involved in the

policy, product and the environment design of the store. Moreover, this online community website

addresses social need of customers to belong in the Starbucks community. Changes made by customer

idea promote customers to feel Starbucks is designed for them and address their acquired need. As a

result, Starbucks achieved huge success after publishing this site and their customer engagement

increased dramatically which led to the #1 most engaged brands. According to Starbucks annual report

2008, which is the same year they introduced the online community website, their net revenue growth

is 10% even during the recession period. Starbucks social marketing not only addresses the need of

change from customers but also the need of uniqueness. In order to discuss these needs, Starbucks

launched another brilliant social media website called Frappuccino.com. This website gives many

Frappuccino lovers a lot of joy. First, customers are able to create their own drink and name them. This

drink might become an actual sales product in the store which represents the customer involvement.

Second, customers can upload and share their picture of sipping the Starbucks Frappuccino, which

encourages the word of mouth effect, that people may start spreading words about this amazing

website and their pictures. Even more, customers can customize the current selling product to become

their unique drinks. These tools on the website lead the positive motivation of customers to design and

drink their customized Frappuccino, which result in driving their sales and engagement at the same

time. In addition, this website will deliver emotional motives to customers based on the fact that drink is

designed by them.

Facebook-Cares about customer more than selling According to Socialbackers.com, Starbucks has total

35,345,288 fans and has 137,741 people talking about it. The followers of Starbucks Facebook page are

larger than the population of many countries. Starbucks is on the top #2 in 10 Facebook brands by

number of local fans in January 2013, #6 in August and September 2013. The fans grow 61,007 by month

and 6 by day. The strategy is different with other company since Starbucks does not publish many posts

a day, instead once in few days. However, the focus is not solely on the coffee. Starbucks pay more

attention to interaction between their fans and different ideas from them. You will see a post from their

fan drawing and designing their cups and they will share the post on official Facebook page. This method

pleases customers to feel that Starbucks does pay attention to their fan posts. Another great thing about

their Facebook management is they respond to customers quickly which mean they closely follow up

what people talk about them and are grateful about all the opinions. Some customers even post

comments that the reason why she loves Starbucks is not just about the coffee, is about their desire to

continue to work with the customers, care and be part of the community. This is a successful message

which represents more than just the cup of coffee they provide, in fact they provide greater service and

willing to communicate with customers. Starbucks also post coupons and promotions they have in the

store. The recent competition they successfully managed was that they let their Facebook followers to

decide which city in U.S. and Canada will get to enjoy the holiday-themed beverage for a week prior to

the national launch. This huge advantage made people go crazy about voting to be the first city. This is

the word of mouth strategy they used to make people gladly spread the message. They used this

competition to make their customer more involved with brand by offering a chance to contribute to the

company decision which ultimately implanted sense of engagement and belonging. Their success

formula is also about overall design of the pages. Starbuck has various tabs providing information and

benefit to customers rather than talk more about Starbucks. None of the tabs and posts are related to

sales of the coffee. It is all about customer satisfaction. Most of the posts on their page are from

Starbucks fans sharing new ideas and experience with the company. Nothing is relevant to the sales of

their products, but all people can see is more about customer relationship and commitment.

Twitter- Listen to your customer’s wants and needs

Starbuck is a giant in social media. The brand boasts 2.1 million followers on Twitter which is extremely

popular and impressive. Their building strategies have made it the eighth most recognized company on

the micro blogging site (How Twitter helps Starbucks, 2012). One of the excellent strategies of Starbucks

is using tweeter to listen to customer needs and solve their problem and dissatisfaction instantly. For

instance, one follower tweeted her disappointment with the coffee shop after not receiving the

traditional e-coupon on her birthday. Starbucks immediately replied to her and gave her a contact

number. In addition, Starbucks promised the customer to help her celebrate birthday (How twitter helps

Starbucks, 2012). Every company does not want any negative review or disgruntled customer voice. But

Starbucks used twitter to resolve this unsatisfied issue immediately which gives customers higher

satisfaction and builds more profound relationship with them. Furthermore, this strategy also stimulates

the public to believe Starbucks cares about people who purchase their product and service. More than

just business related services, Starbucks also cares about their customer community which is nothing

related to their business. For example, when Washington D.C government shut down, Starbucks took an

event of #come together. People twitted about it every day and came to Starbucks to provide their

signature. Starbucks also posted a picture of a person who dressed Starbucks work shirt and commented

that delivering signatures to our leader in Washington D.C. It is the time. This is very clear and inspiring

message that Starbucks delivered to their customers that they are taking an action and care about the

community, more than just selling the coffee. Rather than always posting things about themselves,

Starbucks seems to apply a blue ocean strategy on twitter by limiting amount of posts relevant to

product, coffee or new store. Starbucks create different #event and topic that matter the most to people

during certain period such as holiday and improving the society day. One good example is

#payitforward. That is an amazing idea about being kind to others. Starbucks help promoting this event.

People post that the lady who line behind her helps her to pay for the coffee. As a result, people

consider positive things about Starbucks and what they have improved for our society and community.

Starbucks is highly committed to the social issues and willing to care about their customers. They are

more than happy to listen, respond quickly, solving the problem and improve every day. Who will not

like Starbucks?

THE DIFFERENCE MADE BY STARBUCKS USING SOCIAL MEDIA

When choosing to learn from others social media strategies, it is always helpful to choose one of the top

dogs in social media.

Meet Starbucks. They have been successfully executing their social media marketing plan since the first

days of social media and social commerce. For over 5 years, and their strategies have played a significant

role in their growth. With more than 18,000 retail locations in 60 countries, the coffeehouse is the

picture of success.

Starbucks rode the baby boomer trend in the 1990s, the swelling ranks of mid-age professionals that

created the need for a third place, ‘ � an affordable luxury’ where people could share and enjoy a cup of�

coffee with friends and colleagues, away from work and home.

In our opinion, the company has inserted itself into the American urban landscape more quickly and

craftily than any retail company in history. It has forever changed the way companies market themselves

to customers. Here is how we feel they have been so successful:

Market segmentation

The company has stayed with the upper-scale of the coffee market, competing on comfort rather than

convenience, which are the case with its closest competitors, McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts.1

Execution

The company continues to focus on its original product bundle that includes good coffee, quality service,

and a nice environment to hang around. They keep their attention on paying attention to the details of

great execution and service.

Social Media

One of the earliest adopters of the use of social media for marketing and social commerce, Starbucks

has certainly taken a leadership position. Their social media strategy is built around their company web

site and 6 additional social platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, G+, Youtube, and My

Starbucks Ideas. We will review Starbuck’s social media strategy in detail below.

Adaptation and Innovation

Starbuck’s business crowd sourcing, via its My Starbucks Idea website, has been a huge success. Why

you may ask? Because they have combined the concepts of change, experimentation, social media,

customer engagement, and market research and made the results key components of both their brand

as well as their marketing strategy. Have you given My Starbucks Idea a try? What did you think?

Starbucks has clearly embraced the digital realm. With a strong presence on multiple social networks,

the brand has set a high bar when it comes to being social and engaging its customers. They are at or

near the top of nearly every major brand ranking in social media.

Starbucks’ ability to wear so many hats corporate success, “local” favorite, and Internet sensation

warrants strategic examination. There are seven key reasons their social media strategy is a successful

difference maker for their marketing campaign:

Customer relationships

Instead of solely focusing efforts on accumulating new customers, it cultivates its current relationships.

This ensures more fans/followers in the long run, as well as the continued existence of brand advocates.

This holds true across the board: In-store experiences are highly valued, along with online engagement,

emphasizing the importance of customer service.

Going to its customers

When Starbucks takes a photo, it shares it on Instagram, posts it to Facebook, tweets it on Twitter, and

pins it on Pinterest. It clearly goes to where all its customers like to hang out. Cross-promotion is more

valuable as the world becomes more digitally focused.

Each network provides an opportunity to reach a new audience, and integrating your strategy on each

is crucial to increasing visibility and promoting the brand.

Customer engagement

They believe in letting customer engagement and conversation occur as naturally as possible. They

listen carefully, observe, and apply new ideas from what they learn.

Encourages sharing

Happy customers are eager to share good experiences and offers. For example, the Starbucks frequent

promotions like “buy 1 get 1” garner an extraordinary amount of engagement on social media through

comments, “likes,” and shares.

My Starbucks Ideas

The My Starbucks Idea website, where Starbucks does its business crowd sourcing, has been actively

engaging customers for over 4 years now. It encourages customers to submit ideas for better products,

improving the customer experience, and defining new community involvement, among other categories.

Clearly, Starbucks has seen and believes what Peter Drucker has to say about business adaptability.

Customers can submit, view, and discuss submitted ideas along with employees from various Starbucks

departments ‘Idea Partners’. � The company regularly polls its customers for their favorite products and

has a leader board to track which customers are the most active in submitting ideas, comments, and poll

participation.

The site is at once a crowd sourcing tool, a market research method that brings customer priorities to

light, an on-line community, and an effective internet marketing tool.

Experience customization

Starbucks provides its unique experience through programs such as My Starbucks Rewards, personalized

“signature” drinks, and localized store experiences. Their social sites, in particular Pinterest and

Instagram, encourage users to share their Starbucks moments’ whether it be the return of a favorite

holiday drink or just an artsy coffee cup shot.

Taking a stand

Giving consumers a charitable reason to buy that steaming cup is beneficial for all. The takeaway from

Starbucks is to know your customer and tie that in with what matters in the world … so, pay attention to

how your brand can fit into trending topics.

Starbucks reflects a mission

Its mission is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit—one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at

a time.” They believe lifting customers up will lead to more customer loyalty. It’s ‘The Way I See It’ quote�

campaign is a perfect example.

Lots of ideas here that can be easily replicated … which ones do you feel could benefit your business?

How could you improve the Starbucks Coffee Social Media campaign concept for your business?

10 guiding principles of Starbucks’ social media strategy:

1. Listen;

2. Be transparent;

3. Use authorities;

4. Be human;

5. Share timely information;

6. Offer personal attention;

7. Be humble in replies;

8. Don’t preach;

9. Give fans access;

10. Don’t spam users.

How Starbucks Crushes It on Social Media

Starbucks is known for lots of things: great coffee, friendly baristas, and a near-complete takeover of

practically every street corner in America. Did you know it’s also known for it’s killer social media

strategy? It’s true! Take a look at some of these stats:

● 37.32 million Facebook likes

● 6.56 million Twitter followers

● 2.98 million Instagram fans

● 2.86 million Google+ followers

● 160K Pinterest followers

● 32K YouTube subscribers

Those numbers are staggering but well-earned. There’s no doubt Starbucks is crushing social media, but

how do they do it? Let’s take a look.

Facebook

Interestingly, the Starbucks social media management team doesn’t post Facebook updates all that

often. When they do, however, they’re usually eye-catching and ultra-clever. The posts strike a good

balance between fun contests, helpful tips for the java-loving crowd, and subtle sales messages to its

customers.

Twitter

Starbucks has a fascinating and unique approach to Twitter updates -- they don’t do them all the time

rather strategically! Fans who connect to the company on Twitter to catch the latest news and updates

are in for a surprise. The team does post unique content but also uses the Twitter as a service to reach

out to customers talking about their in-store or product experiences.

All Tweets are directed at specific Twitter users who’ve “spoken” to Starbucks in their own timeline,

sometimes with a complaint or negative feedback. The Starbucks team checks in several times a day and

encourages dissatisfied customers to get in touch with the company for follow-up using a Twitter-

specific email address. It’s an unorthodox but smart approach to deal with customer complaints before

they have a chance to get out of hand.

Pinterest and Instagram

A big part of the coffee culture is about beautifully decorated espressos and fancy cups to drink your

favorite cuppa. Starbucks really shines on visually-oriented social sites like Pinterest and Instagram

where they can post appealing beverage-related eye candy. The company maintains

several Pinboards featuring tea rituals, coffee gadgets, and soothing spaces to get cozy in while you

sip. Instagram, on the other hand, is an assortment of cool images related to the coffee community and

culture.

What Starbucks knows about social media?

Getting customers is good. Keeping customers is great. With over 21,000 stores in more than 65

countries, it’s a safe bet that anyone with even a passing interest in coffee already knows Starbucks

exists. The company has reached critical mass in terms of advertising so its challenge at this point is

keeping customers loyal so they’re not swayed by competitors with similar offerings.

The Starbucks social media team is great at offering the customer service of local coffee shop on a grand

scale over its social media channels. Even though they’re a huge company, they still give customers

individual attention, which no doubt goes a long way toward keeping them coming back for more.

Coffee is made for socializing. One of the reasons behind Starbucks’ social media success is that drinking

coffee is a social activity. People love to meet over coffee, bring each other coffee, swap stories about

coffee, and build coffee acquisition into their morning routines.

By extension, sharing the coffee-drinking experience is a natural fit for platforms like Twitter and

Facebook. In a classic case of “build it and they will come,” all Starbucks has to do is create places for

coffee drinkers to congregate online and they will happily oblige.

Consistent branding is key. No matter what Starbucks social platform you visit, the Starbucks touch is

evident. The company’s social channels all have the same look, feel, and tone as their stores. Although

the marketing team takes a slightly approach from Twitter to Instagram to Facebook, the content is

consistently unified around the company’s mission, message, and goals.

Whether one is a fan of the Starbucks product line or not, their social media success is undeniable. As

with every other aspect of the company, their attention to detail and customer-centric messaging is

what makes their social outreach some of the best in the business.

How Starbucks uses Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Google+

Starbucks is often touted as having an excellent social strategy, so it’s an excellent subject for our series

of posts looking at how brands use the four main social networks.

Having previously evaluated a number of brands including Red Bull, ASOS, Walmart and Ikea, it

appeared that the brands that were doing well in social all followed the same basic blueprint – they post

updates several times a day and are excellent at responding to consumers.

But as this post shows, Starbucks has managed to outperform nearly all other consumer brands in terms

of community engagement despite taking the exact opposite approach.

And there is a special mention for Starbucks’ Instagram feed at the end as well...

Facebook

Aside from Facebook itself which has almost 90m fans, Starbucks is one of the most ‘liked’ consumer

brands on Facebook with a massive 33m fans.

This in the same ballpark as Walmart, which has 27m, however the two companies operate vastly

different social strategies.

Walmart updates its page several times a day with posts including product suggestions, caption

competitions and sports chat. Posting frequent updates is generally seen as the best way to maintain an

engaged fan base, however Starbucks often goes weeks without posting anything.

Yet its post, which are often just attractive product images, gain thousands of ‘likes’ and hundreds of

comments. For example, a picture of the original Starbucks coffee shop with the heading ‘Where it all

started’, attracted more than 150,000 ‘likes’ and 2,100 comments. Starbucks’ social team also doesn’t

seem to respond to many of these comments, if at all.

If anything Starbucks’ massive fan count and high engagement rate serves to underline the fact that

there are few hard and fast rules when it comes to social media.

The other brands I’ve looked that have achieved success on Facebook, such as John Lewis and ASOS,

flood their pages with numerous updates per day and do a decent job of responding to comments.

Starbucks does the exact opposite but outperforms both of these brands.

The coffee brand also has local pages for other global markets including the UK, which adopts a similar

strategy towards the frequency of posts.

However the content is more varied, with videos, surveys and coupons in among the product images.

Starbucks UK is also the only brand I’ve seen so far that includes several user posts in its timeline. There

are four posts from fans on February 8, two of which are ringing endorsements for the brand, while one

of the others is a request for job advice from someone in Thailand.

I’m not sure why these posts are showing up on the Starbucks UK page, and really they make it look a bit

untidy.

Twitter

Starbucks’ takes an equally relaxed attitude towards its main Twitter feed, tweeting fewer than 10 times

a day on average. Most of its posts are responses to @mentions, but it also tweets product images and

links to its loyalty scheme every couple of days. The content is generally uninspiring and often

repurposed from Facebook, yet the feed has more than 3.5m followers.

While other brands give their social teams the freedom to engage in conversations with followers and

inject some personality into their Twitter feeds, Starbucks’ content is really quite bland. Obviously this

means it avoids getting caught up in anything controversial, but it also seems fairly unambitious.

The Starbucks UK feed is also relatively quiet compared to the likes of ASOS, tweeting no more than 10

times each day.

A decent proportion of the tweets are responses to customer service queries, but it appears that social

is a low priority for the brand.

In fact the most notable thing about Starbucks’ Twitter feed is the momentous fail it suffered during a

Christmas promotional campaign at the Natural History Museum.

The coffee brand displayed Twitter messages that used the hash tag #spreadthecheer on a big screen

next to an ice rink at the museum, but forgot to actually monitor what was being posted.

Coming hot on the heels of the scandal over Starbucks’ UK taxes, the wall unsurprisingly became a prime

target for angry taxpayers...

Pinterest

While its Facebook and Twitter pages are deeply uninspiring, Starbucks has one of the best Pinterest

accounts I’ve seen so far.

It only has seven boards but they have more than 900 pins between them, and have attracted more

than 76,000 followers. In comparison, Walmart has created 65 boards but has just 12,000 followers,

while ASOS's 13 boards have around 25,000.

The boards are full of fantastic images that are almost entirely sourced from third-party sites. I think this

is an important part creating a successful Pinterest strategy, and is something that a number of brands

don’t seem to grasp.

I recently highlighted several brands that have run Pinterest competitions to drive up follower numbers

and engagement, and Starbucks is another brand to add to this list.

In September 2012 it offered followers the chance to win a Verismo System coffee machine if they

created a board named ‘It’s possible’ then pinned six images to it, including one of the new machine.

A quick Pinterest search for ‘It’s possible’ shows that it had hundreds, if not thousands of entries. Great

success!

Google+

Normally when brands neglect their Google+ pages I say that it’s a symptom of the fact that nobody

uses the network, but in this case it’s actually in keeping with Starbucks’ overall social strategy.

The coffee brand has more than a million followers and posts content every few days with nearly all of it

taken from its Facebook page and Twitter feed, though there’s nothing drastically wrong with this tactic.

Each update attracts hundreds of +1s and up to 100 comments, which is actually a lot better than most

of the other brands I’ve looked at.

IKEA, Tesco and Wal-Mart haven't really bothered to update their G+ pages at all, but ASOS and Red Bull

post content frequently and as a result have 1.4m and 1.5m followers respectively.

Special mention for Instagram

As I’ve already mentioned, Starbucks stretches every piece of content as far as it can by reusing it across

all its social channels, and its Instagram feed is no different.

It looks great and has more than a million followers, but all the content is remarkably familiar.

As with Red Bull, the idea is to promote the brand as part of a lifestyle choice and as something to be

enjoyed with friends.

Starbucks also used Instagram to cross-promote a Google Hangout with Maroon 5, showing how the

mobile app can be used as part of a multichannel marketing campaign.

Eight awesome social campaigns from Starbucks

Starbucks has been hugely successful on social media, attracting tens of millions of fans and followers

and becoming one of the most popular brands on Facebook.

In fact it was recently reported that nine out of ten Facebook users is either a fan of Starbucks or knows

someone who is.

The coffee retailer has obviously been responsible for some excellent social campaigns over the past few

years, so I've rounded up eight interesting examples.

For more information on this topic read my blog post looking at how Starbucks uses Facebook, Twitter,

Pinterest and Google+, or check out our similar round ups focusing on McDonald's and Coca-Cola.

Blonde Roast

To promote its new blonde roast back in 2011 Starbucks did a coffee giveaway that was promoted

through its social channels.

One of the central features was a Facebook app that allowed people to learn about the new product,

claim a free cup of blonde roast and send e-cards to their friends.

Starbucks also tweeted about the new brew and product giveaway, with some posts directing people

back towards the Facebook app.

But it wasn’t all organic content. Starbucks also invested in Facebook ads and Twitter ads that were

targeted at certain cities to make them more personalized.

This is a fairly simple but well coordinated social campaign that likely had a big impact on promoting

awareness of the new coffee.

Pumpkin Latte

Starbucks in one of those brands that has the luxury of passionate, loyal customers, so that means it can

generate huge excitement around the launch of new products. In this case Starbucks was actually

promoting the return of its pumpkin spice latte by giving people the chance to have the flavor available

in their town a week before the rest of the US.

To win the prize fans had to rack up the most points on a specially created Facebook app. Users earned

points for city shout-outs, solving a daily challenge or making a daily creation. The city with the most

passionate pumpkin spice latte fans on Facebook in the US and Canada, as determined by aggregated

points, won the beverage in their town a week early. In the end Chicago came out on top with 10.6m

points, beating Seattle into second by some 342,000 points.

Tweet-a-coffee

In October 2013 Starbucks launched a ‘Tweet-a-Coffee’ campaign that enabled people to give the gift of

a $5 gift card just by putting both ‘@tweetacoffee’ and a friend's handle in a tweet.

The coffee wasn’t free though and in order for it to work users had to link their Starbucks account to

Twitter and their credit card to the account.

We're excited to announce @Tweetacoffee, a new way to share the gift of

Starbucks: http://t.co/E9OKYKYyV8

— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) October 28, 2013

Analysis by research firm Keyhole found that by December more than 27,000 fans had tweeted a coffee

and that 34% of users bought multiple gift cards. It suggested that around $180,000 worth of coffee had

been bought through the promotion.

Even more importantly for Starbucks, it now knows the Twitter handle, mobile phone ID and customer

ID for at least 54,000 customers.

#TreatReceipt

I’m deeply sceptical of the efficacy of Facebook hashtags, however Starbucks was quick to trial the new

social tool for yet another discount promotion.

To help publicise a new deal that offered customers a discount in the afternoon if they had already

bought a coffee that morning, Starbucks tagged announcements of the offer with the hashtag

#TreatReceipt.

According to SproutSocial, Starbucks also used the hashtag #heatwave on one of its posts to try and link

its discount offer to ongoing conversations about the hot weather.

While a hashtag on its own doesn’t necessarily constitute a great social campaign, it’s interesting to see

Starbucks trialling the new Facebook hashtags to promote a seasonal offer.

Snow day in real-time

When a blizzard hit the east coast of America in early 2013 Starbucks sprung into action with a series of

Facebook and Twitter posts aimed at tapping into conversations around the snow storm, nicknamed

Nemo. As the cold weather set in social media users saw Starbucks ads showing people holding warm

cups of coffee.

The ads were promoted through Facebook Marketplace Ads and Promoted Tweets, so appeared when

people searched for weather-related hashtags such as #Nemo or #blizzard.

It’s an excellent example of real time advertising that is relevant to the brand, rather than an awkward

attempt at news jacking.

Grab some VIA and enjoy the snow. pic.twitter.com/fKTqmfgD

— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) February 7, 2013

Behind the Scenes

Though not necessarily a specific campaign, Starbucks’ use of Instagram deserves a mention as it has

been used as part of a brilliant branding exercise.

Starbucks doesn’t rely on any competition hashtags or gimmicks, but simply posts interesting images

that give people a view behind the scenes of the company. Starbucks also reposts photos taken by fans

that show its coffee cups in different locations.

This simple idea is a great way of creating a closer relationship with customers and softening the

company image by showing the people behind the product.

Charity campaign

Back in 2012 Starbucks teamed up with Foursquare for a charitable campaign that benefited AIDS

awareness. From June 1 to 10 Starbucks donated $1 every time someone checked into one of it

locations in the US and Canada.

Starbucks set a limit of $250,000 on its donation to add to the $10m it has already donated to the RED

charity’s fight against AIDS. For its part Foursquare gave users a specially created badge if they took part

in the campaign.

And one social fail

Just to show that even the biggest brands fall victim to social fails I’ve included this example from one of

Starbucks’ Christmas campaigns.

As a PR stunt Starbucks displayed Twitter messages that used the hashtag #spreadthecheer on a big

screen next to an ice rink at the Natural History Museum in London, but forgot to actually monitor what

was being posted.

Coming hot on the heels of the scandal over Starbucks’ UK taxes, the wall unsurprisingly became a prime

target for angry taxpayers...

6 REASONS STARBUCKS EXCELS AT SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

With over 18,000 retail stores in 60 countries, the renowned coffee house is the picture of success. In

fact, this prosperous business could likely shun social media and still be quite alright – as long as

customers get their caffeine fix. Instead, they’ve taken their rule to the digital realm. Beginning in 1971,

Starbucks has transitioned seamlessly into the era of the internet by way of social media domination.

With an incredible presence on multiple networks, the brand set a high precedent for other businesses

when it comes to content quality and customer engagement.

As shown above in the info graphic, Starbucks is on top of nearly every major brand in social media. The

coffee house was also voted “most loved” out of 3,400 food brands in a survey.

Starbucks’ ability to wear so many hats ubiquitously – to be a corporate success, a “local” favorite and

an internet sensation – is rare and therefore in need of strategic examination. The following is a

breakdown of a few of the reasons why Starbucks is a social marketing maven.

1. They have “super influencers:” Instead of solely focusing efforts on accumulating new

customers, they cultivate current relationships. This ensures more fans/followers in the long

run, as well as the continued existence of brand advocates. This holds true across the board – in-

store experiences are highly valued along with online engagement, further necessitating the

importance of customer service.

2. They encourage sharing: Those same happy customers from above are eager to share good

experiences and offers (so give them a reason to!). For example, the Starbucks holiday

promotion “buy 1 get 1” garnered an extraordinary amount of engagement on Facebook

through comments, likes and shares.

3. They customize a unique experience: Consumers want to feel like valued individuals, not

disposable dollars. Starbucks provides that by way of programs like My Starbucks Rewards,

personalized “signature” drinks and localized store experiences. Their social sites, in particular

Pinterest and Instagram, encourage users to share their Starbucks moments – whether it be the

return of a favorite holiday drink or just an artsy coffee cup shot.

4. Their causes are timely and consistent: Coffee drinkers are known for brand loyalty (hence the

term “caffeine addiction”), and giving consumers a charitable reason to buy that inevitable cup

of coffee is beneficial for all involved. The takeaway from Starbucks is to know your customer

and tie that in with what matters in the world – pay attention to how your brand can fit into

trending topics.

5. They cross-promote: When Starbucks takes a photo, they: share it on Instagram, post it to

Facebook, tweet it on Twitter, pin it on Pinterest… you get the idea. Social cross-promotion

continues to become more important as the world becomes more digitally focused. Each

network provides the opportunity to reach a new target audience, and integrating your strategy

on each is critical in increasing visibility. Just remember that those different groups respond to

different marketing messages, and each message should be optimized in relation to the

network.

6. They make it count: Their mission is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one

cup and one neighborhood at a time.” Taking the focus off of money has ultimately helped them

make more – lifting customers up will lead to loyalty. Their “The Way I See It” quote campaign is

an inspiring example.

How one can improve their Social Media Strategy

Listen to your customer – The most successful strategy from Starbucks knows how to listen to their

customer needs and wants and make changes rapidly. All companies seem to understand this point,

but only limited numbers establish a website like my starbucks’s idea or use social media to interact

with their customers. Starbuck make changes regarding their customer’s idea efficiently. This

involves consumers and also become the brand personality.

More than business care about the community- Most of the firms see social media as a way to

reach larger market, promote and sell their products. Starbucks give other firms a lesson that firms

need to care about the community more than sales of the business. Business is more about building

relationship with customers and assisting to improve community. When a firm is successful in

establishing strong relationship and loyalty with their customers, growth of the business will follow

automatically.

Build a positive brand Personality and encourage sharing- Unlike other beverage brands, Starbucks

does not post things solely on promoting theirs sales or new product. Most of the posts on their

Facebook come from fans. People participate various designs on their coffee cup. Starbuck feel

grateful on these amazing artworks and post and share on the official pages. Even on the My

Starbucks idea and Frappccino.com, their purpose is to encourage customers to get involved in their

business and share ideas with the brand. Such characteristics carry the unique atmosphere of

Starbucks that no one can replace. They are built from idea and opinion of the customers instead of

one idea from one chairman.