The BeanCast 198: Specifically Targeted

Listen to the show.

Yesterday I joined The BeanCast for its 198th episode alongside some illustrious and fun folks: social media/digital director Chris Baccus of AT&T, vp marketing/social Jeremy Epstein of Sprinklr, and founder Joe Jaffe of Evol8tion. We covered a lot of ground, including:

• The value of earned media (versus paid)
• Advertising on The Olympics
• Mid-roll advertising's video virtues
• Geofencing: is this THE YEAR?
• Crowdsourcing with Starbucks

If you're familiar with the show, you'll know that at the end we also share the topics we'll be watching this week. I'm watching the technology coming out of AT&T's research department, which could make a lot of people happy but also pose a lot of problems for privacy to those being watched at a given point in time.

A prime example of this is the The Drive Safely iPad app, developed in tandem with AT&T and some Israeli developers (a lot of incredible tracking and identification tech is coming out of Israel right now). This pretty little beast enables parents to track their teens' driving in real-time -- great for parents, not so good for teens (although what do they know, their frontal lobes aren't even fully formed yet).

Take a listen! You'll dig it, I promise.

Starbucks' AR Cup Holiday Characters

Blast Radius just produced Starbucks' first-ever augmented reality app, and you can swoop it up next Tuesday from your Android or iPhone.

Remember how you used to be able to collect all five mini Barbie dolls or Cabbage Patch kids in a McD's Happy Meal™? It's kind of like that, except not a choking hazard.

The app interacts with various characters that will appear on the company's trademark red holiday cups. When you point your phone camera at the cup, they come to life, and can interact with you or different objects (47 in all!) at the store, like bags of coffee.

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Video: Starbucks Logo Unveil

Here's some footage I took of Starbucks unveiling its new logo at the Opéra store in Paris, the first French Starbucks location to open seven years ago. The logo unveil happened yesterday in New York, London and Beijing. The marquee didn't show up that well on the camera, so to see the different logos (and read what each represents), click here.

There was plenty of symbolism behind this gesture, from the grand to the mundane: every logo change has represented a change in the Starbucks story, and this one, according to US President Cliff Burrows, represents the "liberation" of the Siren - which also, as previously discussed, liberates Starbucks to explore new paths to profit.

The logo change also coincides with the brand's 40th anniversary. Back in Paris, proofs of its strengthened commitment to go green are also visible in the revamped store (for which we also fêted its 7th year in business): nearly everything down to the Haussmann doors has been recuperated for reuse. (I did wonder where all the old aprons and cups with the old logo went, but nobody seemed to know.)

Finally, champagne and a round of "joyeux anniversaire" kicked off concurrent celebration for store manager Nicolas' birthday. What a happy coincidence. Are the stars aligned over Seattle?

I'll have footage of my interview with Burrows up in a bit. More videos below the drop.

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'...The Freedom + Flexibility to Think Beyond Coffee.'

That's the money line in this dull but inoffensive video of Howard Schultz explaining Starbucks' logo redesign.

And here's how I'll explain it.

Starbucks isn't about coffee.* It's a spirit and a vibe. (The "third place" philosophy comes to mind - I still find that special in a time when most anywhere can be your third place.) Today it hocks branded merch, boasts a respectable musical catalogue, and even punts books, gum and coffee liqueur.

And however much it contrives to artsy, we know the truth: Starbucks is candy. It's bubblegum pop masquerading as indie rock. And it's good at it. This logo revamp is the perfect example: that aesthetic is clearly the fruit of a time marr marked by digital badge-hoarding - but it's still unassuming enough that it'll slide by in our periphery, recognisable and accessible as-needed.

Starbucks is wise enough to know that the hive mind is volatile. Transparency's become our religion, and it pays us just enough lip service to accommodate the mildly suspicious. Look at this page a second time: it's the work of a corporation self-consciously aligned to a communications sphere dominated by blogs and YouTube. Everybody's on a first-name basis, graphics appear in a neat little side column, the CEO sits for an unpretentious video...

...and it passes. It's not hurting anybody, it's just wearing fresh makeup. The company experiments just enough to maintain the evolutionary equivalent of a brisk walk (it was among the first to collabo with Foursquare, for example).

Nothing about this strategy is sex, drugs and rock n' roll, but it keeps Starbucks palatable to all but die-hard café purists (and that's cool, they have Grumpy and the Grove). It's not heedlessly stumbling into new channels without watching its step and considering the perception of its brand in the context of the given medium. And that may be boring, but it's smart.

A logo design that lends the "flexibility to think beyond coffee" is a euphemism for something that seems small (the removal of "Starbucks Coffee") but is significant: it liberates Starbucks from the shackles of defining itself as a coffee company in words (a flagrant lie with no feasible future).

The market will always have room for that kind of Starbucks: recognisable, innocuous, just modern enough to speak our language without raising eyebrows, bearing wares that please and support the company culture.

That's a thousand-year survival strategy that outlives the ephemeral idea of definition by product.

UPDATE, 7 January: I have to revise my opinion because of a convo with my homie Robert Gorell. Basically I concluded that Starbucks is synonymous with coffee for a lot of people, which makes the removal of the words all the more powerful: it need not be said. But as I mentioned above, it still liberates Starbucks from an uneasy and restricting marriage exclusively to coffee on the balance sheet.

Hit tip, Adfreak.

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*It did play a leading role in presenting café culture to the American market, but even then it was no caffetteria italiana. It played dress-up, and, captivated, we did too until we got too old. I speculate that this was one factor in the great backlash.

Break

Yesterday Benj decided that I'm spending too much time at home. Around 8pm or so he pulled me out of bed, where I was lying in sort of a fetal position, and gathered up a hoodie, jeans and some shoes I could step into.

Stringing my white iPod cords around my neck, he looked me firmly in the face and said, "It's a crisp beautiful night. You need a walk. You need to REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE." Then he pressed three dollars into my hand and said, "Go get a marshmallow square."

I picked up my leaden feet and walked out the door, taking care to slam it and stomp so he'd know I wasn't doing this willingly. The air was nice, the music depressing. (Why do I listen to so much Sylvie Lewis?) I walked to DeWitt Park, located a dry bench, and reclined upon it so I could watch the sky and contemplate ways to punish Benj for shoving me out into the cloying air.

Thoughts rose up, volleyed, congealed. I made no big emotional breakthroughs, but I did decide now was not the time for a marshmallow square. I walked to Starbucks, had an iced coffee (sweetened!) and watched college girls pick out travel mugs. 

I used to do lame shit like that too, under the premise they would actually help me study. They did not. I sometimes wonder what happened to the mugs I so copiously collected. Did they go to the same lost place as my Christmas music? My favorite ring? My Urban Outfitters arm socks?

I sipped noisily, using my finger to wipe away the fog around my plastic cup. Beside me, a boy called his friend to ask for her notes on The Great Gatsby. "I'm at Starbucks," he said. "No, it can wait, I'd never ask you to walk somewhere. I said I'd never ask you to walk somewhere."

He repeated that last sentence two more times, which led me to conclude he was damn well trying to get her to walk somewhere. I finished my drink. My fingertips were frostbitten and I did not want to sit around chewing the ice, so I threw the cup in the trash, buried my earbuds back into my head, and walked out into the damp blue night.

Near home, I saw someone running toward me and waving his hands. It was a confusing gesture and I pulled out my earbuds (why?) and stopped to see if I could recognize who it was.

Benj grabbed me before I even identified him (could I use a new prescription?) and breathlessly cried, "I was running up and down the street, looking for you! I didn't want to leave home because I thought you might come back before I did, and I kept popping my head out at the same time as the girl next door, so I think she thinks I'm mad."

He bubbled happily on and I put my arm around his waist. It was a nice solid feeling. Close to home, he raised an arm expansively and said, "Look, neighbours, I'm not crazy! I was looking for someone. I was looking for my little love." And he squeezed, and I was happy, and together we watched the last half-hour of Fringe.

You Wanna Blend Me a What?

In an ongoing quest to keep up with the non-luxury joneses, Starbucks goes into smoothies. Meanwhile, its stock plummets dramatically.

Update: actually, the stock's up 5.67 percent today (that's 0.77 cents). Maybe people like the idea of health smoothies at a coffee shop.

Then again, we already have one D*lush -- which has been doing coffees, blended drinks and smoothies for about seven years -- and it's got all the sex appeal SBUX left behind.

I first came across D*lush in San Diego around 2001. I totally dug the brand experience -- enough to buy a shirt -- but then again I was heavy into pink and blue. =P Plus, when you walk in for the first time, all the employees shout "WE'VE GOT A VIRGIN!"

They're so cute. And apparently they shimmied into Dubai this year. See D*lush promo stuff here.

Gold Foil, Creamy Middle, Dirty Fingers

I got to try a Starbucks truffle today. It came in an unmarked, shiny package and was pleasant taste-wise, but no grande of a turn-on. (Contrary to what the photo suggests, however, it does not have a creamy cottonball center.)

One thing I never understood about Starbucks: why hasn't it seriously tried exploring dark chocolate? If it wants to play up its "luxury destination" cachet, it ought to know nothing goes better on a cultured tongue than a frothy cappuccino melting over 70% cacao. 

Coffee "liqueur," loyalty program, Mickey-Mouse truffles, copies of Kite Runner. The topless mermaid isn't getting anywhere with her grocery store mindset.

Starbucks Does the Loyalty Program Thing

You mean like a grocery store?

I'm reserving my "icks" and "yechs!" for after I find out whether this can improve my life in some way. But come on, Howie. What next, an intercom?

"Blue-light special on Akeelah and the Bee!"

"20 percent off espresso beans when you buy a tall doppio macchiato, no whip!"

"Buy two vanilla scones, get one free. OFFER ENDS FRIDAY."

Contemplating the Starbucks Sebatacle

Yesterday all corporate-owned Starbucks shut doors from 5:30 to 9pm for emergency barista training.

During the 'bucks blackout, competitors leapfrogged each other to deliver discount specialty drinks. Some, like Dunkin' Donuts, went all $0.99. Others, like Biggby Coffee and Coffee Klatch, gave cups away.

I'm reminded of an ad icon who felt great brands were never built on the lean backs of discounts. It lends the sense that your only means of differentiation is your cost. Discerning users in your market -- and if they stick around long enough, they all become discerning -- might take advantage of your discount once or twice, but over time they'll start veering away from you.

Nobody professes loyalty to a five-and-dime.

I'm prattling on about this discount/differentiation thing because Ken Wheaton at Ad Age thinks the 'bucks blackout served two major purposes (neither of which had to do with turning baristas into sages):

• Proving Schultz means business about a dramatic company overhaul
• Generating serious press

And not just one-hit wonder press either. When all 7100 of the biggest coffee chain's stores close to "improve the quality of its baristas," guess what message reverberates across the pond?

Starbucks isn't about cost. It's about quality. It's about you.

I used to be a Starbucks barista, back before baristas talked crap about customers in front of you and stole merch after hours. Corporate was downright dramatic about instilling a sense of sanctity in what we do for people. I totally drank the Kool-Aid.

Sometimes I miss the days when I stank of Breakfast Blend but was able to sincerely call SBUX my "third place."

Schultz, if you bring your little green empire back to basics -- serving samples out of a French press, learning the names of regulars, and making even non-purchasing loiterers feel welcome -- I honestly think you guys can bring the fire back.

You've always had the magic formula. Surprise, surprise! It wasn't breakfast sandwiches or copies of The Kite Runner. Just stop with this too-big-for-the-little-things nonsense.

To Face McDonald's, Starbucks Gets Gritty

To edge gourmet caffeine peddlers off the dance floor, McDonald's goes highbrow.

So Starbucks goes low?! (And don't even get me started on the fucking doughnuts.)

I'm sorry, but into what warped universe have we stumbled?

This is almost as bad as that one time Wal-Mart alienated all its thrifty little shoppers and took out ads in Vogue for, like, two months so it could compete with that other big-box. And we were like, "Uh, Wal-Mart, you know Target worked over a decade to earn the upper middle-class vote, right?"

You don't win people back by wooing the other guy's customers. It's trashy and no one respects you more for it. (Ask Dunkin'.)

When you waste all your time reacting to competitors instead of improving life for your obviously disgruntled demographic, you are playing very bad brand chess. And yeah, I just said "brand chess."