Starbucks Marketing Stunt: We Give It a Thumbs Up
Thomas Hawk e-mailed to inform us that he’d been had by a clever Starbucks buzz marketing campaign. The details:
Today … I noticed that this gentleman had left his coffee on the roof of his car. Midway through the cross walk I turned and pointed at him and he just waved at me … When I got close enough to speak to him I told him that his coffee was on his roof. He looked at me and said, “I know, Happy Holiday’s from Starbucks!” … I realized that the coffee cup was permanently affixed to his roof and that he was an advertisement in disguise.
Media Orchard is generally a Scrooge about stunts (they’re usually not worth the expense), but we like this one. From other sources, we understand that passersby are typically given Starbucks coupons in return for their kindness.
Update: Jim Romenesko, the source for all things Starbucks, says they did the same campaign last year, too.
Technorati tags: Starbucks, PR, Public Relations, Marketing
It’s an appalling piece of marketing. Here’s why:
a) Does an omnipresent brand like Starbucks need to conduct the sort of stunt that is more apt for a new brand.
b) It makes me think of what the guys on the American Copywriter podcast said about the payoff: there isn’t any here. Starbucks created a situation, made someone feel a fool and then… erm, they wished them Happy Holidays. Is that really a ‘pay off’ or just a bad marketing idea?
c) Someone convince me that this campaign falls inside the Starbucks brand guidelines.
Piers, what I like about it is that whoever has a Thomas Hawk experience will inevitably tell the story to — oh — EVERYONE they know.
And, as I recall, the Starbucks brand mantra is “rewarding everyday moments.”
Getting a fun story to tell your friends and a coupon for free coffee to boot — sounds like a “rewarding everyday moment” to me…
I think they nailed it on this one. How very, very clever… as a bunch of people are likely mumbling- I only wish I’d thought of it first.
Adding the coupon for a free coffee just seals the deal. They are likely able to convert non-Starbucks drinkers into advocates.
How this could be a bad thing is beyond me.