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As part of an initiative for “transforming the Starbucks customer experience” the Seattle coffee maker has launched a new, social website for customers. MyStarbucksIdea.com is part of a greater strategic thrust for bettering their coffee business and engaging their customers.
The site actively engages customers for their ideas on improving Starbucks, allows customers to vote on and comment on the ideas, and serves as a vehicle for implementing those ideas at Starbucks coffee houses:
“What’s your Starbucks Idea? Revolutionary or simple—we want to hear it. Share your ideas, tell us what you think of other people’s ideas and join the discussion. We’re here, and we’re ready to make ideas happen. Let’s get started.”
My first reaction to learning about this new site: how bloody patronizing and pretentious! Who do they think they are, The Body Shop? Why not just launch a new website dedicated to “Going Green” in an effort to convince me that the millions of disposable cups they add to the landfills of the world somehow actually benefit our forests and drinking water (errr, coffee)?
To my surprise, my initial grumpy skepticism was brutally arrested when I visited the site. The site is clean, easy to navigate and digest, and declares a massive customer engagement. Massive engagement.
Customers are encouraged to:
• Post an idea: “…from ways we could improve to things we’ve never even thought of.”
• Vote on ideas: “Check out other people’s ideas and vote on the ones you like best. The community votes. The community decides.”
• Discuss ideas: “Talk about ideas with other customers and our Starbucks Idea Partners and help make them even better.”
• Hold Starbucks accountable: “This is the proof. See which of your ideas were the most popular and watch as we take action.”
The site itself is fine, but the initial customer reaction – in only one week, with little fanfare and virtually no advertising – is what alighted my taste buds like no mochachino or KABOOM Organic Wellness Juice ever could. MyStarbucksIdea.com has elicited a monstrous first week response:
• Hundreds of ideas
• Thousands of comments
• Tens of thousands of vote ideas
• More than a dozen ideas under consideration (“under review”)
• One idea already implemented (free wi-fi) for Starbucks Card holders
Wow.
It’s not lost on me that many of the comments are probably employees, but my hunch is that most are in fact customers.
It may be pretentious, but MyStarbucksIdea.com has been a very tasty, initial success – a web case study for the ages. At the very least, it’s something to do when you’re sipping on that Organic Wellness Juice while waiting on that sea kelp body wrap down the street.
Does hemp clothing make me look fat while sipping mochachino?
--
My writing notes:
• Don’t add an ‘s’ to MyStarbucksIdea as you’ll go nowhere.
• MS-Word froze on me while writing this and my first, complete article on this subject was completely lost… even after I saved it.
• Internet Explorer is a brutally awful piece of software. It constantly froze on me while researching this article. I almost always exclusively use Firefox now but I like the fact that MS-Word picks up “recently browsed pages” that allows me to very easily turn text into a hyperlink. But IE 7.0 is just too horrendous. It belongs with Vista.
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Nice posting Guys...
Comments (7)
The reason your sales have taken a dramatic downturn recently is simple. Your coffee sucks.
For awhile it was "trendy" apparently to get coffee there. People have finally wised up.
Try using good coffee like Van Houte.
Posted by john a. seymour | April 9, 2008 10:38 AM
Posted on April 9, 2008 10:38
Please change back to blackberry syrup on the greentea frapichino's!
Posted by Jim Hitt | April 30, 2008 6:53 PM
Posted on April 30, 2008 18:53
i do not like the fact that the only kind of coffee you have after noon is pikes place that is some sorry coffee i do not like it and i really wish you would change back to the old way were you had a coffee of the day you cannot make every body like the same coffee i am very disapointed with you for that. if this continue i will be forced to take my business elswhere
Posted by marshall hollins | May 1, 2008 1:59 PM
Posted on May 1, 2008 13:59
I don't understand why people are writing nasty comments about the coffee. This Website is for IDEAS. Have a twenty-stamped Starbucks card for a free Venta cup of coffee. A ten-stamped card for a Grande coffee, a five- stamped card for a tall coffee.
Posted by LINA | May 8, 2008 3:03 PM
Posted on May 8, 2008 15:03
Hi I hope this finds everyone doing very well.
I am a diabetic and therefore I am always careful about my sugar intake. I have been ordering for some time Vente soy latte with card # 6029963069433039.
However I have discovered that the soy milk you is loaded with lots of sugar. There is a soy milk product called "UNSWEETENED". It has 0-1 sugars in it. whereas the product you are using at most of your stores in Santa Barbara, Ca. are over 10 sugars. Soy milk products come with a variety of different sugar amounts. With "unsweetened" soy there is no loss of flavor as one can add sugar-however the Unsweetened soy allows the flavor of coffee to come thru better. Thank you for this opportunity...John
Posted by JOHN CAMPBELL | May 28, 2008 9:12 PM
Posted on May 28, 2008 21:12
Well, posting comments is about democracy and opening up a dialogue. Whether someoen wants to comment on the nature of the site or talks about unsweetend soy, its certainly anyone's peroagative to do so. As author though it is my peroagative to delete a comment... but I won't do that unless it has clearly inappropriate language (e.g. swear words, blatant advertising with no connection to the content, or pure attack on someone).
I've been criticized in posts before and my judement and intelligence called into question. I've never deleted those comments however because those comments usually speak for themselves and embarass the poster more than me.
So keep on posting!
Cheers, Toby
Posted by Toby Ward | May 30, 2008 12:40 PM
Posted on May 30, 2008 12:40
I live in Greensburg, In. Don't close our Starbucks. It hasn't even been open a year. There are 3 in Columnbus, In. and 2 are only 1/2 mile apart. Close one of theirs and let ours open. We have a new Honda plant opening with 2000 employess working in 2 months. Many are from Ohio and surely drink Starbucks. I know this is a business decision but give ours a chance. We have Starbucks Stock. I don't want to have to drive 25 miles for my Starbucks fix. Please reconsider.
Posted by llricke | July 18, 2008 4:43 PM
Posted on July 18, 2008 16:43