Brand Autopsy

It sounds like it could be a fairly high risk idea to me. No matter how bland they make the content on the cup they will offend someone. Strike the wrong note with enough customers and they could have more of those cups hanging around than they might like.

Hmm ... the 'real estate' on the cup is less valuable in these 'cup sleeve' days. You see, 98% of all SBUX hot drinks go out with a brown cup sleeve that hides the backside messaging. Wouldn't it make more sense to put the quotes on the brown cup sleeve and not on the cup?

Ya know ... before the cup sleeve, all hot drinks were double-cupped and the backside messaging was more visible. Paul talked about the static messaging on the cup and he is right-on.

However, before SBUX became a well-known brand, the backside messaging served a purpose -- educate consumers about specialty coffee category. Short educational messages of what coffee quality is, where coffee growing regions are, and how to pull the 'perfect shot' of espresso all helped to educate the specialty coffee neophyte.

These days, with seemingly fewer speciality coffee neophytes out there, it appears Starbucks is more into promoting the Starbucks Experience and less into promoting the specialty coffee category.

"Experience".... add another annoying buzzword to the marketing slushpile.

I know what they mean by "Starbucks Experience"... and I don't disagree with their strategy, or at least, I can see why they're doing it.

But when language gets overly "strategic", it starts to grate on the nerves.

Actually, maybe I do disagree with their strategy. Maybe they're too worried about "The Experience". Maybe they should get even more extreme with their coffee.

Maybe they like yappin' about "The Experience" because it saves them from actually having to think.

Hugh ... we appreciate your take and thanks for stopping by.

I contend that by yappin' about the Experience, Starbucks over-thinks and over-complicates its business. In my opinion, this over-thinking/over-complication is a by-product of Starbucks suffering from Marketing Cornucopia.

Starbucks seems to be forgetting its Tribal Knowledge lesson learned of ‘It’s Just Coffee.’

Back in the day, when things got hectic and convoluted working at Starbucks, we used to say, “It’s Just Coffee.” It was an integral part of the Starbucks languaculture where we by saying, “It’s Just Coffee,” we would immediately refocus our efforts and attention on what really mattered – the coffee.

I don’t think there are too many people left at Starbucks these days who remember (or use) the ‘It’s Just Coffee’ serenity now-like saying.

(‘It’s Just The Experience’ doesn’t have the same ring to it as ‘It’s Just Coffee.’ Does it?)

So yes … I agree that Starbucks should get more extreme with their coffee.

I think companies should live by the philosophy that the only reason you should do something is to sell more items, more often, too more people (Sergio Zyman). However, why not use the real estate you have.

I compare Starbuck’s new idea to the fortune cookie. I do not eat Asian food for the fortune cookie, but I have come to expect it, and I have a good time reading it. I would also enjoy reading what Starbucks would come up with. It could be a conversation piece to use during those awkward moments of silence when you take that blind date for coffee after the movies. It would have to be better than the snowflake cup I am looking at now.

I do realize that Starbucks does not want to become too political (or maybe that is a good hook). I can see the PR opportunities with their first cup:

-A record number of American troops have perished during the Iraq War. Should we be over there? Discuss. Drink more coffee.

In the end, I think this idea couldn’t hurt. Do you think they could include lucky lottery numbers at the bottom of the cup?

Jason, the problem with your "first cup" motto is that the "record" is on the low end. At about 1200 troops at this point that's about 30 seconds of death at Iwo Jima, D-Day, or, well, just do some homework.

Of course you could write:

"According to the FBI, the 2003 murder rate in the U.S was about 20,000 people. Are you safer as a soldier in Iraq than in this Starbucks?"

I do not want to start a political batlle here, but I was not bashing the war in Iraq. I actually support Bush's decision. I supported him back when the war started, and I support him and the troops now.

I was only trying to make a point with regards to marketing. Thank you Yakub for proving that Starbuck's concept might work. You read my cup question and you responded. I think that is what Starbucks is trying to accomplish. The power of controversy. Maybe I should get a job writing cups for Starbucks.

>> Maybe I should get a job writing cups
>> for Starbucks.

Actually, I was thinking Hugh should get a job drawing little pictures on the sides of the cup sleeves.
Collect them all! ;)

I remember contemplating the starbucks sterile white cup and lid one day. Why was it all white with the dark brand circular logo? Yeah it makes the logo stand out and communicates starbucks but I think it also may work on other levels. The rest of the coffee sellers provide earth tone cups with or without rich coffee inspired textures and patterns. Starbuck, the king of coffee sellers uses a cup which looks like it was picked up in the no-frills isle. It simply does not fit with the others and in turn becomes memorable. Also it seems sterile in comparison, almost like something provided in a hospital, like a medicine. Why this may be beneficial I'll leave up to you.

Just thought I would chime in, about this media company in San Francisco called BriteVision that makes coffee sleeves with local advertisements on them. At first glance I did not give it much thought, then I learned how it works. I guess the advertisers have been enjoying great success with this form of alternative media. So Britevision Media prints the sleeves with ads on them and distributes them to a growing network of cafes all over the nation. The sleeves are provided totally free to only independent cafes, thus saving the average cafe several thousand dollars per year. This helps keep them in business and keep our coffee prices down. What a cool idea. Everybody wins! I know many independents are fighting for their lives against StarSucks and some of the other smaller chains. So next time you get a sleeve with an ad on it, support that café and support the advertiser.