2. February 21, 2016 STARBUCKS
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary……………………………………………………………..3
Social Media Audit………………………………………………………………4
Networking
Audience
Online Brand Persona and Voice
Competitors……………………………………………………………………...7
Social Media Objectives………………………………………………………..8
Timing and Key Dates………………………………………………………….10
Social Media Policy……………………………………………………………..11
Social Media Roles & Responsibilities……………………………………….12
Critical Response Plan……………………………………………………...….13
Sources……………………………………………………………..………….…14
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Executive Summary
The relationship between brand and consumer has never been more integrated than
it is now. Through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, brands
are able to communicate with customers about their goods and services outside of the
store.
Starbucks quickly earned its niche for specialty drinks and quality coffee, but just
exactly how does that transfer to media? With over 36 million likes on Facebook, Starbucks
has quickly adapted its brand voice to cater to its diverse audience. The brand has created
hashtag campaigns such as #SpreadTheCheer, #RaceTogether and more to create
interactive competitions within their consumer base and spread the word about their
brands mission.
What differentiates Starbucks from other companies is their base’s brand loyalty.
This same dynamic allows for a large social media presence where customers often make
Starbucks their only stop for coffee or specialty drinks.
With the success of previous campaigns utilizing the interactive platforms that social
media offers, Starbucks can expand its base by practicing similar tactics that make its
customers its very own brand ambassadors.
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Social Media Audit
Networking
● 37.32 million Facebook likes
● 6.56 million Twitter followers
● 2.98 million Instagram fans
● 2.86 million Google+ followers
● 160K Pinterest followers
● 32K YouTube subscribers
, 2.86
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Facebook Instagram Twitter Pinterest Youtube Google+
Million
Followers by Page
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Audience
• 49% of the revenue that Starbucks receives every year comes from customers in the
25-40 age demographic.
• This core age demographic grows economically at an average of 3% annually.
• Young adults in the 18-24 age demographic make up another 40% of the revenues
Starbucks receives every year.
• Young adults grow at 4.6% economically each year.
• Teenagers under the age of 18 make up just 2% of the revenues Starbucks receives
annually.
• Specialty coffee drinks make up 75% of the sales that Starbucks sees on any given
day.
• 4 out of 5 Starbucks customers have an active social networking presence on
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or LinkedIn.
• 1 in 3 Starbucks customers spend at least 5 hours on their preferred social network
each week.
(Source: http://brandongaille.com/30-curious-starbucks-demographics/)
Online Brand Persona and Voice
Starbucks’ online persona shifts away from the traditional corporate voice and is
known to be a friendly, welcoming brand through social media. The brand makes
drinking coffee a social activity through creative use of visuals, text posts and
individual interactions.
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“No matter what Starbucks social platform you visit, the Starbucks touch is evident. The
company’s social channels all have the same look, feel, and tone as their stores.”
-Social Media Today
Consistent branding that goes beyond the physical stores is what makes Starbucks a
friendly and social voice for users to interact with.
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Competitors
Dunkin Donuts
Dunkin’ Donuts now has over 11,000 restaurants in 33+ countries (about 7,000
in the U.S.). Starbucks has over 20,000 retail stores in 65+ countries (about 11,000 of
them in the U.S.). The two companies own around 60% of the country's coffee
market—with Starbucks controlling an estimated 36% and DD roughly 24%.
Currently, Dunkin’ Donuts has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Google+,
YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram.
When it comes to Facebook, Starbucks is far stronger in likes, interactions and
shares. Starbucks averages more call to actions than Dunkin’ Donuts which leads to
more audience interactions. Dunkin’ Donuts has just over 12 million Facebook fans
and 697,000 Twitter followers. Starbucks has just over 37 million Facebook fans and
6.53 million Twitter followers.
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Social Media Objectives
Address & Include Diverse Audiences:
Young adults, aged 18 to 24, total 40 percent of Starbucks’ sales. The young adult
audience grows 4.6 percent each year. People identifying in this age group,
millennials, are typically ethnically and socially diverse.
Maintain customer loyalty:
Customers who shop at Starbucks are known to hold Starbucks as their one and only
stop for specialty drinks and coffee. The best way to draw in new customers is to use
the existing ones’ loyalties to the company. People are more likely to engage with a
brand if their peers do so.
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Increase Interactions:
By December 2016, Starbucks will achieve over 2 million total mentions on all social
media platforms. Mentions should come from the customer base.
Social Media Strategies
1. Addressing/Engaging with Diverse Audiences:
In 2015, Starbucks turned 97 Seattle locations into LGBT+ safe spaces in solidarity
with the community. In the same year, Starbucks created the “Race Together”
campaign to address issues of racial violence in communities nationwide.
Actions like these not only registered a positive response from customers, but
also recruited new customers who appreciated the message.
By continuing campaigns and welcoming social initiatives like the ones
mentioned above, Starbucks can better engage with its ethnically and socially
diverse base.
2. Maintain Customer Loyalty:
Starbucks is known to share or post individual users’ experiences on its own
social media pages. In the examples mentioned for the brand’s persona and
voice, Starbucks utilized actual customer’s photos and made it into a header
image on Facebook.
Actions like these incentivize loyal customers to keep engaging with the brand
on social media in the hopes they will be recognized or included in the
conversation.
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3. Increase Interactions
The success of campaigns like #RaceTogether and #SpreadTheCheer generated
over 100,000 mentions on all social media platforms. Using interactive campaigns
give customers the chance to spread awareness about the brand’s mission and
goods and services offered. By creating at least three new hashtag campaigns on
social media this year incorporating the Starbucks experience, the company can
easily see to it that they are mentioned on social media over two million times.
Timing and Key Dates
March 4, 2016: Employee Appreciation Day
March 30, 2016: Starbuck’s 45th
Anniversary
May 8, 2016: Mother’s Day
May 21, 2016: Armed Forces Day
June 19, 2016: Father’s Day
July 4, 2016: Independence Day
August 26, 2016: Women’s Equality Day
September 11, 2016: National Grandparents Day
October 31, 2016: Halloween
November 8, 2016: Election Day
November 24, 2016: Thanksgiving
November 25, 2016: Black Friday
Novermber 28, 2016: Cyber Monday
December 24, 2016: Christmas Eve
December 25, 2016: Christmas Day
December 31, 2016: New Year’s Eve
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Social Media Policy
Work comes first. Don’t let social media get in the way of you – or your fellow
partners – doing your job and what’s expected of you.
Make it yours. Be open about the fact that you’re a partner and not an official
company spokesperson. Use statements in your account profile or posts like: “I’m a
Starbucks partner and these are my personal opinions....”
Truth be told. Your voice can be powerful, so don’t spread false information, rumors
or misleading claims about Starbucks, our products and services, or other partners.
Get the facts to always be honest and accurate.
The world is getting smaller. What you say can be seen by customers and partners
all over the world. And what you say might actually be wrong or offensive
someplace else.
Take the high road. Show respect for others’ opinions, even when you might not
agree. And no trolling, bullying or flaming - there’s no winner in that game.
The internet doesn’t have a “delete” key – Anything you share on the internet can
take on a life of its own and be hard to remove once it’s out there, so please think
before you share something.
Be safe. Understand the privacy settings associated with your social media
accounts. For example, Facebook provides resources to help you fine tune your
privacy settings.
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We can work it out. Complaints or concerns about Starbucks are best resolved by
speaking directly with someone, rather than distributed on social media. We
encourage these options:
• Privately with fellow partners
• Face-to-face with your manager
• Partner Resources
• Business Ethics & Compliance helpline at 800-611-7792
Whoops! If you mess up, be quick to correct it and clear about what you did to fix it.
• Give your manager a heads-up; they’re there to help.
• If it’s a BIG whoops, contact the social media team for some additional help
(socialmedia@starbucks.com).
• If a journalist contacts you, direct them to the Starbucks Media Relations Hotline at
press@starbucks.com or
(Canada) 888-997-8628 / (U.S.) 206-318-7100
(source:
http://www.starbucks.com/assets/f945dbfa51904618982409e9c09c58b6.pdf)
Social Media Roles & Responsibilities
Starbucks’ role as a brand on social media is to engage with customers in a polite,
positive manner. The main purpose of the social media pages are to address issues
or concerns and create a direct relationship with customers.
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Critical Response Plan
In the event of a crisis, Starbucks maintains 4 objectives to obtain the best possible
outcome for the brand’s reputation and its customers.
1. Maintain existing relationships
-In the event of an unforeseen crisis, the company’s priority will be to keep all
interested and invested publics to the company informed at all times of the
situation.
2. Quick Response
-The one-hour rule will be applied in serving customers and stakeholders and
keeping all audiences informed in the case of critical response.
3. Full Disclosure
-All information available to the public will be disclosed publicly in the best
interest of those affected.
4. One Voice
-A single, trained spokesperson for the company will serve as the only person to
represent Starbucks in case of an unforeseen circumstance. All public quotes,
interviews and reactive efforts will be voiced by a single chosen delegate.
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Measurement and Reporting Results
For the sake of the social media objectives, all results will be evaluated using
quantitative data in the form of mentions, likes, retweets, etc. and qualitative data
representing the tone of audience response.
Comments will be evaluated using a scale that includes positive, neutral or
negative.
Tools like Facebook Analytics and Hootsuite will record data to specify which posts
generate more interactions and how many there were. Data will be recorded before
implementing a new campaign/post, during the campaign/post and after.
