Is Starbucks out of touch?

I really don't understand this. Starbucks is buying newspaper advertising? Of all the ways to get the word out to their customers and future customers, this has got to be one of the worst.

Yesterday, I was in one of my local SB's and noticed the cup was different. Instead of the words of wisdom from others, there was this fine print about Pikes Place Roast, which was ignored once I dropped the cup in my cup holder.

I even walked in, instead of using the drive-thru. Nothing caught my attention about Pikes Place Roast in the store. The guy who took my order said nothing about it, the gal who handed me my cup said nothing about it.

I was in their store and nobody informed me of something new at Starbucks.

Let this be a lesson to EVERYONE:

You must insist on having your front line employees involved with your marketing, in a real, hands-on, face-to-face manner.

No amount of paid advertising can give you the R.O.I. that you'll get if you ignore the obvious marketing tools that cost you nothing.

Like talking to your customers, person to person.

Okay, I'll stop yelling.

But then the second part of this is that Starbucks is spending millions on advertising in publications that are likely to reach the 50 plus demo!

I know that there are plenty of newspaper readers that drink specialty coffee, but that can't be the number one target demo for Starbucks, is it?

As I'm visiting a local thriving coffee shop right now there are about 25 people in here. One is reading the paper, Five are older than 45, Eight are using the free wireless, and all of them are spending money that Starbucks wants.

Billboards, Internet, TV, Radio, all would have been a better choice for spending advertising dollars.

Here's the story that sent me off on this rant:

Starbucks Embraces Newspapers In Launching New Coffee
By Mark Fitzgerald
Published: April 08, 2008 4:55 PM ET CHICAGO

Starbucks attracted a ton of free publicity for its nationwide 30-minute giveaway of its new "Pike Place Roast" brew on Tuesday -- but the coffee-maker laid the way for the launch with a series of full-page newspaper ads. And Starbucks is building on the launch with newspaper inserts that include a loyalty program offer.

The print campaign represents a significant change in strategy at a chain that once shunned newspaper advertising -- and, for that matter, advertising in any medium. Along with big-box discounters Wal-Mart and Costco, the ubiquitous Starbucks stores were the hardest accounts for newspapers to land. But a slowdown in store traffic as the economy slowed -- and a feeling that Starbucks had grown too fast with 7,100 U.S. stores -- got Starbucks executives thinking about traditional advertising, even as they worked to return the stores to their roots as aromatic places to hang out.

Even then, Starbuck's ad outlays were nothing compared to rival Dunkin' Donuts, for instance. According to TNS Media Intelligence, in 2007 Dunkin' spent $116.2 million on ads in the United States. Starbucks spent $37.9 million.

The campaign to launch the milder-tasting Pike Place coffee appears to be the chain's most intensive use of newspaper yet. A Starbuck's spokesperson did not immediately get back to E&P with information about the size of the launch's newspaper buys. Starbucks placed full-page ads in newspapers across the country, showing a kind of chalk outline of the familiar Starbucks paper cup, with the only text a date: 04 08 08.

In some markets, the coffee retailer has already followed up with the loyalty card inserts. In Chicago, the insert will run in Tribune Co.'s youth-oriented commuter daily RedEye next Monday, and in the flagship Chicago Tribune on Tuesday, said the newspaper's spokesman, Michael Dizon.

---

Mark Fitzgerald (mfitzgerald@editorandpublisher.com) is E&P's editor-at-large


So, how did their taste test turn out, for those that knew about it? Here's a story from California:

Starbucks provided free 8-ounce samples of its new brew for half an hour beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

The Seattle-based chain created its new brew, Pike Place Roast, after soliciting input from nearly 1,000 customers. The brew features a smoother flavor than the typical Starbucks blend, flavored with dashes of cocoa and toasted nuts, and will remain on the menu indefinitely.

Servers at local Starbucks locations offered shots of Pike Place Roast by the cash register and carried trays around tables. Most cups disappeared quickly, but some customers said the heavily promoted brew didn’t taste much different than the regular one.

“It’s a little lighter,” said Liz Shickler of Corona, who stopped at the Starbucks at Harbor Boulevard and Adams Avenue. “It’s not very strong.”

— Michael Miller

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