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December 07, 2005
Thomas Hawk on Starbucks Sticky Marketing
Posted by Stowe Boyd
I was in San Francisco earlier this week, and saw someone driving down the street with a Starbucks coffee cup on the roof. I forget who I was talking to, but I was on the cell, and interrupted the conversation to relate the fact that someone was about to lose a $4 coffee.
Turns out it might have been a marketing ploy:
[from Thomas Hawk]
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 advertisment in disguise.
[pointer from Business2Blog]
Comments (1)
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1. Piers Fawkes on December 7, 2005 11:55 PM writes...
We think it's an appalling idea. Here's why:
Permalink to Commenta) Does an omnipresent brand like Starbucks need to conduct the sort of stunt that is more apt for a new brand.
b) It makes us think of what the guys on the American Copywriter podcast said about the payoff: there isn't any here. Starbucks created a situation, made someone feel a fool and then... erm, they wished them Happy Holidays. Is that really a 'pay off' or just a bad marketing idea?
c) Someone convince us that this campaign falls inside the Starbucks brand guidelines.