Starbucks is Revamping Their Advertising!
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@Starbucks tweeted on Thursday that they are releasing a new campaign to highlight the “value and values of Starbucks.” See the post from their official blog here. The same day, AdAge released an article on the topic discussing the motivation behind Starbucks’ change as likely being an effort to preempt the new McCafe to be introduced by McDonald’s this year.
Hear the CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, talk about the new campaign with several baristas in Seattle in the video below:
What seems most interesting to me about this campaign is Starbucks supposed want to emphasize the values or, if I may, virtues of their company. Many of us know of the various work Starbucks does with non-profits and other deserving organizations throughout the world even though Starbucks rarely publicizes this through traditional advertising. This campaign seems to be saying that Starbucks is ready to cash in on all of their do-gooding. While I am not a huge fan of the typical cause-related marketing (I find it a little pathetic to publicly announce every good thing you do as a strategy to increase sales), if Starbucks wants to tell their story and encourage virtuous behavior, that could be awesome, right?! Well, I have to admit I was a little disappointed after viewing the ads themselves. Instead of emphasizing Starbucks’ virtues as an extremely social responsible company that does so much in communities all over the world, many of them seem to highlight cost, quality, or just random humor! Where is your story Starbucks? The one that should be told? As more of the ads come out, I hope we see their virtuous efforts fore-fronted because I am bored by the whole “Beware of a Cheaper Coffee. It Comes with a Price” line!
Thoughts? I want to hear them!
2 Comments
May 6th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
I think it’s great that Starbucks is revamping their advertising because I assume they are being greatly challenged by places like McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts that offer a cheaper alternative. The scary thing for Starbucks is that people seem to be ok with replacing it which is never good for a company so they really need to differentiate themselves from the competition. They obviously can’t position themselves as a cheaper brand because they are not but they can position themselves on value and they can tell their story as you have suggested. My only problem is I don’t know that Starbucks talking about the good work that they do is going to help. While I think for some people it is important that a company they support is doing great things for others I don’t know that it will sell more coffee. I think what sets Starbucks apart is the customer service and they have touched on that in the ad above “this is what coffee tastes like when you pour your heart into it.” I think this is a smart way to approach their new advertising. Starbucks needs to show that they really care about their consumers and want to give them the best service and a good quality cup of coffee and I think that is what they will accomplish with these new ads and what they should strive to accomplish.
May 6th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
McDonalds officially launched their new McCafe campaign nation-wide today. I am trying to get the spot up for you guys, but unfortunately, it hasn’t been posted online yet (that I can find). Also, McCafe is engaging with consumers on Twitter through @McCafeyourday. However, they did have ads on youtube this morning. See the screen shot below (*credit: ryanspoon.com)
