I was at my local Starbucks this morning in mid town Toronto. I asked for a Grande Bold drip coffee and the barista told me apologetically that I would need wait 2 minutes for a new pot to be brewed.
It did not seem to be a big deal, but nonetheless the barista was rather fussed about the wait time. I paid $1.96 for the coffee and with my change, he handed me a free coupon for "Any Starbucks Beverage" that I could use at my convenience in the future.
Here I am thinking: "wow - these people are smart. They asked me to wait 2 minutes for my coffee and for the inconvenience they are compensating me with a coupon worth over $5 - and I was not even upset to begin with!"
The cost for Starbucks (on even their most expensive drink) is about $0.25. The value to me is over $5.00, but more importantly, I will remember this for weeks to come. In fact, I have already told 3 people about it today and now I am broadcasting this on our company blog for the world to see.
Not a bad investment - for about $0.25, Starbucks is getting all of this free word of mouth advertising. By cultivating this special relationship with their customers - by far their most important asset - they have guaranteed an ongoing revenue stream until the time they really screw up!!
3 comments:
Damn you Starbucks! For so long I have wanted to 'rage against the machine'. However, I just can't bring myself to do it!
In one of my desperate trips to Starbucks (it's the only coffee shop near the office that serves a decent black coffee), my secret adoration for the establishment was solidified. It all happened because of a discovery I made regarding their cup sleeves.
On the cup side of the sleeve, they have little strips of glue. The hot bevy warms the glue so that the sleeve sticks to the cup- like no other sleeve I have encountered.
Not to say that they are the creators of the magical sleeve- I don't know the answer to that question. However, it's just another point to prove that they skip absolutely no corners when it comes to pleasing consumers!
Damn you starbucks! Why do you have to be so smart. Damn you!
I thought the recent viral email disaster was pretty interesting in light of starbucks' creative marketing strategies. I don't really blame them for pulling the free coffee promo though I am surprised they did not think this would happen.
Check it out
http://www.marketingvox.com/archives/2006/08/31/starbucks_email_promo_gets_out_of_hand/
I thought the recent viral email disaster was pretty interesting in light of starbucks' creative marketing strategies. I don't really blame them for pulling the free coffee promo though I am surprised they did not think this would happen.
Check it out
http://www.marketingvox.com/archives/2006/08/31/starbucks_email_promo_gets_out_of_hand/
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