Tierney Rocky's Blog

As Commerce students, we truly understand the desire, correction: addiction, consumers have for their daily coffee fixes. In class, we talk about turning shoppers into loyal customers, then to avid patrons. But perhaps the real aim is to turn consumer desire into consumer obsession. Take Starbucks for example; It has created an addiction around their products and services. Yes, we already know how Starbucks creates its own upscale culture by re-naming its sizes as ‘tall’, ‘grande’, and ‘vente’. However, this is only where their innovative marketing begins. In fact, every word on the menu has been thoughtfully chosen to connote certain emotion while ordering. For example, ‘Macchiato’ simply gets you steamed milk with espresso, but the word itself is Italian and rolls off the tongue, subconsciously leading customers to feel more cultured than if they were to order a lousy ‘steamed milk’.

But enough about Starbucks jargon, this company is more innovative than just that. They have now created apps like the ‘Starbucks free’, which finds any location with your phone’s GPS, and provides the entire drinks menu including all nutritional information. It even has a drink builder to decide your order when you want to try something new. Furthermore, alongside the original Starbucks Rewards Card (which offers free refills, a free drink on your birthday, and complimentary beverage customization), there is now a Starbucks card mobile app that includes a barcode so that simply scanning their phone can make payments.

It seems to me that Starbucks has actually taken the typical marketing goal of creating avid customers one step further, to create obsessed customers. The routine of going to Starbucks in the morning, with your Starbucks-branded tumbler in one hand, and your Starbucks-app laden Smartphone in the other, not only feels comfortable and familiar for the customer, but it feels like the only option that offers them the coffee high they are looking for.