Starbucks Staff: “It’s not because our coffee’s any good”
So by now I’m assuming that the blogosphere is abuzz with the viral marketing aspects of Starbucks’ free cup of coffee. From what I gather, a two hour free coffee promotion was quietly posted to their website and advertised nowhere else. I ran across it first on lifehacker and within minutes had received a notice of the promotion by way of email. I for my part blasted the message along to the HPCA mailing list. I imagine the results are going to be a little mindblowing to the marketing execs at Starbucks just how far and wide this promotion reached.
But I wonder if the reasoning behind the promotion was fully explained to the ground-level staff. As I stood in line with all the others, awaiting my free cuppa joe, the demeanour of the staff was far from pleasant. Frenzied and frustrated would be the most generous description one would give. But more surprising were the comments of a gentleman whom I’m assuming was the manager.
“What’s going on?” asked a lady who had ventured in for a tall chai.
“Ugh“, grumbled the manager, “Well, it’s not because our coffee’s any good - this line’s here for free coffee.”
Wow. I’m not a regular Starbucks patron. I actually make a stop out of my way to get to a Second Cup for my Paradisso Dark. This free coffee promotion was the first thing that’s brought me into a Starbucks since a meeting with a client in October, and was that manager’s best shot at winning me and my daily coffee buy. Quite frankly the opportunity is lost. Either the man has no belief in the value of his product … and if the staff don’t believe in a product, why the heck should I? … or he had utter disdain for the droves entering his door this morning and why would I choose to give my money to someone who can’t tolerate my presence?
So while the promotion may be a rip-roaring success elsewhere, I can tell you it won’t be doing much at Yonge & Bloor.
March 15th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Well, this is the complete opposite of my experience on “Free Coffee Day” (or should I say Free Coffee Two Hours?).
I visited my local store in downtown Edmonds, Washington, a quaint town about 12 miles north of the megopolis that is Seattle.
The young lady who greeted me when I walked in asked how she could help. I told her I was there for my free cup of joe, and she said no problem, but if I wanted a latte, she could make me one, by demonstrating a automatic machine she was exhibiting today.
She proceeded to make me a decent latte with two shots, and also told me that if I wanted a drip coffee as well, no problem!
I opined that the double shot latte was probably enough caffeine for me today, thank you very much, and went on my way.
By the way, no mob scenes at the store, just another day in SBUX land!
Full disclosure here: I do own a sizable chunk of their stock, so I might be a LITTLE biased, even if it has been going down, down, down as of late!
March 15th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
Hi Dan,
Glad your coffee break experience was on the positive side. Just goes to show that all the branding and marketing in the world is only as good as the person standing across the counter. Hope the manager of the Edmonds, WA store notices this and shares this with the staff.
March 16th, 2007 at 9:15 am
Rob, I didn’t avail myself of the freebie yesterday, although I did receive several alerts about it. Your post proves the importance of front-line training. No matter how tasty the product, customers do care about how they’re treated and what’s being said behind the counter.