Starbucks' advertising is a joke

Confrontational Marketing -- Building Brand Awareness in a Saturated Market, originally uploaded by Thomas Hawk.

Here's the story that goes along with this photo (coming to us from Thomas Hawk):

Today as I was crossing the Embarcadero 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. I ran back to the other side of the crosswalk and approached his window as he wasn't getting what I was pointing at. 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!" At first I didn't get it, it didn't sink in, so I told him again, your coffee it's on your roof and again he looked me square in they eye and said, "yes, yes, I know, Happy Holidays from Starbucks." It was at this point that I realized that the coffee cup was permanently affixed to his roof and that he was an advertisement in disguise.

I can just imagine the meeting when some PR guy was pitching this one to Starbuck's corporate, yeah, yeah, we'll trick all these people, it will be great!

Even though I'm not sure how I feel about cars clogging traffic and polluting the City with exhaust to make a marketing point, I still had a chuckle when I realized that I'd been had.

Ha--this cracks me up!

I actually stumbled upon this photo when it occured to me a few days ago that I have never in my life seen a Starbucks commercial on TV.

Ever.

Occasionally I'll see a billboard, but no real advertising at all.

Yet, I find myself being involved in Starbucks-centered discussions almost every week. These conversations are usually someone telling me something like, "I went to Starbucks today, and they gave me my drink for free because I had to wait 4 minutes for them to brew a new pot."

And then I respond, "Do you know what happened to me one time? The girl behind the counter slipped me a free muffin when she found out I was part Filipina." (She was Filipina too, and yes, if you're part of our club you'll occasionally get a free muffin.;-))

When we small biz owners commiserate about the frightening health insurance woes we face, someone always pipes up and says, "You know if you work at Starbucks for 20 hours a week, you get amazing benefits. They'll even give you adoption assistance."

We're always talking about Starbucks, so obviously whatever they're doing is working, but I thought I'd do some research about their approach to marketing, which led me to the photo of this living, breathing, driving Starbucks commercial.

Brand Autopsy points out, "Starbucks spends its advertising dollars on making better products and better customer experiences and not on making funnier television commercials."

Yes, that's it! They focus on the quality of their product, the training and happiness of their employees, and on improving the experiences of their customers.

And they come up with advertising campaigns that inspire us to chase after cars on busy streets! You've gotta love that.

When I first started my business, I used to think that marketing was 1) scary 2) something you needed an advanced degree and many years of professional training to be good at 3) dead serious 4) completely over my head 5) pushy and in-your-face.

But, seeing the creative, fun, surprising, interactive ways that some businesses handle their marketing makes me see that I was dead wrong on all counts. (Well, perhaps only mildly wrong on points #2 and #4--If I could to afford to hire a team of marketing masterminds, I would!)

Comments

[diana]

brilliant point, Sharon, it never occured to me. i'm really looking forward to having Starbucks here as well - they were supposed to come to Romania last year, but apparently they postponed their entrance on the market. I'm really curious how they are going to handle things in here, cause local marketers worry damn little about giving more to the consumer and providing a better experience.

[Gavin Heaton]

Obviously you have moved on from your first impression of marketing. Your blog shows you are 1) fearless (except about travel) 2) aware that marketers are fakes or good at faking 3) funny and insightful 4) articulate and 5) authentic.

All the things that made the Starbucks experience a remarkable one.

[Verna Wilder]

Wow! I agree with Gavin: You are all of those things yourself, Sharon. That's it; I've got nothing more to say. Thanks, Gavin, for saying it so well.
Verna Wilder
Self-appointed President of Sharon Sarmiento Fan Club

[Liz]

I found this entry particularly amusing and insightful. I too fear going into the world of advertising at times. But you are totally right, it isn't all scary. The "creative advertising" Starbuck produces is truly the reason advertising is such an interest to me.

[Sharon Sarmiento]

Diana--I know how you feel. It took forever for Starbucks to get to my town. I wonder what took them so long and why it's taking them so long to get to Romania. Has there ever been a Starbucks that went out of business? I can't imagine that it would be that much of a risk for them to set up there (or anywhere). Hopefully they'll act just the same there as they do here with their amazing customer service.

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Gavin--you're so sweet, and your encouragement means a lot to me. I wish I could see some of the marketing campaigns you've come up with at your "real job". I bet they're amazing!

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Verna, You too--you're too sweet! I am an extremely high ranking member of the Verna Wilder Fan Club! (Lisa, Andy and I will have to fight for the top slot ;-)).

And I'm glad to see you've found Gavin's blog (saw you commenting). Watch out--Servant of Chaos is more addictive than Starbucks coffee!

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Hey Liz--welcome! I was looking at your blog and the ad photos are hilarious! I see Starbucks isn't the only biz that's getting creative. I'm enjoying your blog. Adding you to my blogroll now :-).

[Porkyvore]

Great article. You know, me and my friend got into a discussion yesterday as to whether Starbucks has TV ads in other countries because here in the Philippines they don't advertise at all but a lot of people go to their stores to hang-out. I think it's because of the customer service they provide and the ambiance.