Tag Archives: starbucks

Get Your Scarves and Your UGG Boots; It’s Fall

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AFall is upon us.

This means one thing for food and beverage companies all over the nation: it’s pumpkin spice time. The one ingenious, but verging on overused, marketing ploy has taken the country by storm.

It all started back in 2003 when Starbucks created the pumpkin spice latte, which has since taken on a life of its own. Today, you get just about everything pumpkin-flavored, from beer and soda to chips and hummus (this is real, I promise; I couldn’t make that up). Check out People magazine’s list of all the pumpkiny options this year.

Now, I personally have never been a huge fan of the original pumpkin flavored thing – pie. And I am not a coffee drinker so I do not participate in the #PSL madness that ensues from September to November each year, but in the spirit of fall (and out of curiosity) I have vowed to try as many pumpkin-flavored items as I can this season. It has become a joke between my roommates and I when we go to the grocery store.
So, here is the official Paige Ferise review of pumpkin flavored items:

  1. Pumpkin Spice Oreos: I was quite skeptical, but these are actually surprisingly delicious. I would recommend them.
  2. Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts: As a broke student, I pride myself in being somewhat of a Pop Tart connoisseur. The pumpkin Pop Tarts did not quite live up to my expectations. They were okay, but not something I intend on stockpiling before they stop making them.
  3. Pillsbury Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls:  Good, but can’t beat the original.
  4. Pumpkin Spice M&Ms: They literally tasted just like the original M&Ms.
  5. Talenti Pumpkin Gelato: Magnificent. Talenti can do no wrong.

This is all the pumpkin I have experienced so far, but fall is still young, my friends!

Paige Ferise, a sophomore at Butler University, is interning in the Indiana Chamber communications department this fall.

Billionaire Beginnings

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Ralph Lauren is worth $7.7 billion. Oprah Winfrey’s empire has skyrocketed to $2.9 billion. They are among the mega-rich and regarded as celebrity royalty.

Their achievements are all the more inspiring when you consider how far they’ve come. Like others featured in a recent Business Insider post – “15 Billionaires Who Were Once Dirt Poor” – both overcame poverty.

Are you familiar with Howard Schultz? I wasn’t. At least that’s what I thought until I discovered that he runs Starbucks (I’m all too acquainted with the company’s lattes). In the piece, he recounts childhood memories residing in a complex for the poor:

Growing up I always felt like I was living on the other side of the tracks. I knew the people on the other side had more resources, more money, happier families. And for some reason, I don’t know why or how, I wanted to climb over that fence and achieve something beyond what people were saying was possible. I may have a suit and tie on now but I know where I’m from and I know what it’s like.

Today, he’s amassed $2 billion. Let me digest that.

Leonardo Del Vecchio’s story is one of the most poignant. As a child, he and four siblings were sent to live in an orphanage after their father died. While working in a factory, Del Vecchio lost part of his finger in an accident. In 1961, he founded Luxottica, the largest producer and retailer of sunglasses and prescription glasses in the world (think Ray-Bans). He’s now worth $15.3 billion.

Fortune may have smiled on these business legends, but their tremendous talent and determination paved the way.

Labor Issue Proves Costly; Could You Be Next?

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A recent labor case has been in the news, in which a prominent coffee company has been deemed by the National Labor Relations Board to have illegally dismissed a problem employee because the staffer was “pro-union.”

However, here are some comments that worker reportedly made to his manager during one instance when he felt the manager should have helped during a busy period: “it’s about damn time”; “this is bull****”; and “do everything your damn self.”

Charming.

But since the employee in question had organized union protests and the manager included that fact in the reasons given for dismissal, the NLRB determined his firing was at least in part because of his union support. It ordered the company to offer this person his job back — and compensate him for loss of pay and benefits. It goes to show that common sense doesn’t always apply with today’s NLRB and labor issues.

Barnes & Thornburg LLP and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce are proud to offer the second edition of The Indiana Guide to Labor Relations. Last published in 2000, a great deal has changed at both the federal and state levels, as well as in the workplace. This is a comprehensive guide, illustrating how employers can deal effectively with all varieties of union issues. New updates in this edition include:

  • The NLRB’s recent attack on social media policies and disciplinary decisions
  • Updated discussion on how to defend against union organizing
  • Indiana’s right-to-work law
  • New union election rules being contemplated by the NLRB
  • Updated analysis of employers’ ability to lock out employees during bargaining

This book is available for $89, or $66.75 for Indiana Chamber members. It can be ordered online, or by calling (800) 824-6885.

Here are some other resources from the Indiana Chamber you may find helpful:

Starbucks to Offer Wireless Cell Phone Charging

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I’ve been accused of having a slightly-obsessive attachment to my cell phone, and justifiably so. It’s the first item I grab when leaving a room, and it typically sits dutifully by my side wherever I’m at. So when I glimpse the battery icon flashing red, warning of its imminent death, I hope that I’m near an outlet to charge it back to life.

Starbucks understands this dilemma. The world’s largest coffee-shop operator is taking it a step further by offering customers the ability to wirelessly recharge their mobile devices, forgoing the hassle of finding an outlet to plug phone chargers into.

Starbucks is teaming with Duracell Powermat to provide this convenient service. Customers will be able to set their cell phones on Powermat Spots located on the counters and tables to charge their devices. The coffee-selling chain has continuously worked to create an ideal atmosphere for customers to encourage them to prolong their stay. In 2010, Starbucks began offering free Internet and has recently looked into a service allowing customers to order items on their phone ahead of time.

No longer will coffee lovers have to hunt down outlets to save their phones from demise. We cell phone enthusiasts will be able to enjoy our coffee in peace, comforted by the steadily-refilling battery.

‘Dumb’-ing Down Starbucks?

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“I’ll take a Dumb Venti, please.”

Never in my life would I have imagined that customers could order that beverage – proudly – at a coffee shop bearing the Starbucks logo. But here’s the thing: Starbucks isn’t the one selling it.

What I’m about to say is no joke – comedian Nathan Fielder recently opened “Dumb Starbucks Coffee” in Los Angeles! In addition to dumb iced coffee, dumb tea (you get the picture), customers were treated (or subjected) to Dumb Norah Jones Duets CDs.

The whole thing is a bit distasteful, if you ask me.

Alas, long lines and creative (albeit questionable) marketing couldn’t keep the stunt going. The shop was closed down last week for not having a permit.

Craving more details? Check out this Daily News story.

Study: Starbucks is Top (or ‘Trenta’) Dog on Social Engagement

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There are many ways to measure brand engagement on social media. But according to a study from PhaseOne Communications, Starbucks has parlayed its approach into becoming the most highly regarded when it comes to engagement with customers. Ragan.com reports on how:

"The very public nature of social media taps into consumers’ public persona—the idealized version of themselves that they want to present to others," the report states. "This can be quite different from their private selves—those aspects of themselves that, while true, are not for public broadcast."

Of more than 20 brands PhaseOne studied, Starbucks ranked highest in social media engagement. "Starbucks becomes the embodiment of their consumers’ idealized selves, seeking experiences uniquely their own," a press release from the firm states.

Social media messages that appeal to the private self tend not to work, the report finds. But those that enable a customer to say something appealing about him- or herself, something that builds the customer’s online image, drive engagement. Brand statements that give customers that opportunity should drive communication strategies, the report’s authors contend.

The ‘me’ statement

Each brand needs something the report’s authors call a "me statement," a way of articulating how the brand and its customers’ public images can become intertwined.

"Brands don’t just happen upon a ‘me statement,’" says Lisa Allard, co-author of the report and PhaseOne’s vice president of special services. "It takes a lot of work."

To arrive at the statement, brands need to identify who their consumers are and what they want, in terms of creating public personae. Then they have to pinpoint the bridge between that desire and how the brand can help them achieve it.

For example, Starbucks has a "me statement" along the lines of giving consumers a way to "pursue experiences that are uniquely me." On Facebook, the company uses that "me statement" to engage customers by asking them to talk about their coffee preferences or personal stories.

McDonald’s, another company ranked highly in the report, has a statement that deals with consumer savvy. Audi’s message focuses on a high-end, modern lifestyle.

Terry Villines, PhaseOne’s senior vice president of analysis and also a co-author, says brands should generally stick to one, broad "me statement" for all its messages.

"When a brand tries to stand for too many things in consumers’ minds, they end up standing for nothing," he says. Brands can have different messages for different products, perhaps, but the core message should remain consistent.

Allard acknowledges audiences aren’t monolithic, however. That’s why brands have to present messages tied to their "me statements" in different ways, "tied in a creative envelope."