Starbucks is focusing their efforts on incentivizing in-person patronage by bringing back its condiment bars and by providing “for here” orders in glass or ceramic cups.
This move, along with a reduction in menu size, is part of Starbucks’ strategy to “re-establish Starbucks as the community coffeehouse and improve the café experience,” as the U.S. coffee chain sets to revitalize itself after three consecutive quarters of disappointing earnings.
Starbucks can utilize these PR strategies to help bring these initiatives to life.
1. Focus on local media and influencer outreach
Starbucks should collaborate with local influencers and journalists to reach their communities. Starbucks can host in-person tasting events and invite selected local media to showcase new products along with the other operational changes they have made to make their coffee houses more hospitable. Starbucks can also work with influencers to share and amplify their stories about the brand on their social media. These strategies will help reach local outlets, boost earned media wins and help foster Starbucks’ strategy to change their image to be a local coffee house.
2. Engage with retail employees
Starbucks should engage with its retail employees by spotlighting positive customer interactions on social media to foster connection between its employees and its customers. Employees should also be spotlighted on social media to further strengthen the connection. Opting into creating social media content for retail employees should be encouraged as Gen Z prefers having an authentic connection to their preferred brands. Showcasing employee engagement will help humanize the workers and change the public’s perception away from a purely transactional interaction to a more personalized experience.
3. Show how it’s made
Starbucks can peel the curtain back on product development to strengthen the story behind its products. Starbucks can collaborate with local media in showcasing a chosen product, whether it be a new launch or a tried-and-true favourite like the Pumpkin Spice Latte, along with the product development team, to show the work the brand puts into making its consumers drinks. Furthermore, Starbucks can connect all aspects of drink making – from product development to creation of the product in-store – to create a through-line to the consumer that makes them feel included in the process. The brand can also create content to amplify across Starbucks’ social media to go alongside the media coverage.
Conclusion
Starbucks’ transition from a homogenous brand image to a simplified, curated experience is a reminder to all brands that no matter how successful a brand becomes, it must be constantly aligned with changing consumer preferences and therefore should be ready to pivot if needed–including its marketing strategy.
As a household name, Starbucks already has the tools to stay in the good graces of its customers, but it needs to shift its focus towards personalized, local content to align with its business strategies and amplify that messaging to its consumers.
