Vicky’s blog post about Starbucks’ marketing strategy was something I could personally relate to. As a regular Starbucks customer, I remember the mild frustration I felt upon seeing my name being misspelled and the immediate delight I felt when my name was finally spelt right. Either way, the result of this name-spelling fiasco would be me sharing it with my friends through social media. In other words, we end up sharing our experiences with Starbucks without Starbucks even asking us to. 

But more importantly, I agree with Vicky’s take on the impact this strategy has on customer bonds. I realized that Starbucks is the only place that is well known for misspelling its customers name. Other food places would try to avoid this by using numbers instead. However, Starbucks chooses to embrace it and turn it into a unique consumer experience, differentiating itself from other cafes. What a customer thinks about a company’s employee can be detrimental to its success. In cafes, customer to employee interaction only lasts for a few minutes, making it difficult to create a lasting impression. Asking for a customer’s name creates a personal bond between him/her and the employee. Learning to spell the name right strengthens that bond even further and makes the experience more memorable (especially when the customer is a regular). This creates a friendly and welcoming environment, which will guarantee a customer’s return.