The Latest for Starbucks

Starbucks latest move to enhance the "Starbucks experience" is brilliant. They plan to offer online access to 250,000 songs via tablet computers connected to CD burners. This will allow members of the hangout culture to burn their own music CDs. Starbucks is masterful at crafting and extending their brand experience. When customers shell out $4.00 for a cup of coffee what they are really doing is paying their membership dues to an experience. Part of the experience is special knowledge of the intricacies and language of ordering "coffee" at Starbucks. USA Today recently reported that there are no less then 19,000 ways to order coffee at Starbucks. This experience has been further enhanced and extended by the loyalty/gift/buying card system that further differentiates experience insiders from the newbies and the pretenders.

Starbucks is an experience that has it's own network of locales, it's own language, it's own currency, it's own food and drink, souvenirs in the form of merchandise and access to productivity and communications. Adding music access just enhances the life of Starbucks citizens.

My guess for what's next for Starbucks:

Social Software System– Caffinester, to network the wired citizens of Starbucks. What better way to use that WiFi than to update your online network of other charged up Starbucks citizens.

Buying Meetup.com- If ever there was synergy this would be it. Meetup only thrives when there is a physical place for people to gather. That's the basic building block of Starbucks.

It will be interesting to see what happens to Meetup after the election in November. Politics grew them up but what will the second act be.

Print on Demand Publishing – If it works for custom music CDs it might work for the printed word. "I'll have a half-caf low foam latte grande, a Norah Jones CD and a copy of The Last Juror."

Video Conferencing- For connecting Caffinester friends, connecting groups into super Meetups and interactive functionality related to personality brands. Can't make it to Oprah's seminar? No problem it's being hosted at your local Starbucks.

Personality Brand Clubhouse - With a network of broadband connected venues with services like video conferencing, print on demand publishing, custom CD burning and a customer base connected through social software and Meetup, Starbucks is positioned to be the "place" to connect with other swarm members for personality brands like Oprah, Dr. Phil, Suze Orman, B. Smith, Nate Berkus, Todd Oldham, Isaac Mizrahi or an inevitably reinvented post big house Martha Stewart.

Marketing Showroom - Related to personality brands what if the interiors of stores were handled by Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, Ikea, West Elm or other brand appropriate design source. TVs, video conferencing equipment, stereo audio and computer equipment provide obvious product placement type opportunities.

Small Business Services - Already offering WiFi it is a natural extension to offering printers, copiers and fax machines. Offer these in a special alcove so as not to office up the place, of course.

Strategic Partnerships - In an effort to compete with FedEx Kinko's mojo and the more obvious UPS stores a third player like Airborne or DHL should offer a shipping services counter at your local Starbucks. Wireless phone companies will soon be offering location based information services. Partnerships with local hangouts for advertising will be a part of that story. When it's time for the Oprah TV show why not send location based text messages to Oprah swarm members encouraging them to flock into the nearby Starbucks to watch the show and interact with other swarm members via broadband and video conferencing.

Starbucks still has great potential to expand their brand. There may only be 19,000 ways to order coffee but there are still many great possibilities for expanding the Starbucks Experience.

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Update: One More for Starbucks

Comments

[Becky]

Very interesting post. I dislike Starbucks, but a part of me admires their marketing genius; I'll be on the lookout to see if any of your predictions come true. Also, don't forget that Starbucks is about to begin 'Phase Two' of its operation: http://www.theonion.com/onion3709/starbucks_phase_two.html

[hey]

for books on demand.. given their relationships with a number of bookstores, that may cause problems... but great ideas...

PB could definitely provide chairs etc... you could really buy the entire freaking store, beyond just the music, cups, appliances, and beans

[Tony Gill]

Very insightful comments indeed - great job in connecting the dots! For people who fluff off places like Starbucks as places simply to buy a cup of Joe, they're missing the larger point. I discussed the ever expanding role of coffee houses in my blog shortly before Christmas, here's a quote that relates to your piece: "Today, as in years gone by, freedom is not in the tallest structures in the world, but in small coffee shops on street corners where people gather to exchange information and ideas, to read a newspaper or magazine, or to connect to the Internet with laptop computers or wireless handheld devices to check their email and, perhaps, post notes to their websites on a Saturday morning." Here's the link to the full post: http://gillinc.blogspot.com/2003_12_01_gillinc_archive.html#107190860265112866

[guest]

starbucks is an amazing coffee store with the lounging coffee is the most amazing invention

[Jimmy Pittsburgh]

The devils coffee hahaha I guess once you become a big corporation you need to do innovative things to keep people coming. 3 years later Starbucks stock is falling and they continue to exploit the small farmers from 3rd world countries where they buy their coffee from....my rant for the day