Back in November 2008, Starbucks launched a new "membership rewards" program called Starbucks Gold. Basically, it's a card that costs $25 a year and gives you 10% off most everyday purchases as well as a free drink for registering and one on your birthday. Oh, and you get this nifty little black card with a gold cup in the middle (see image to the left). Given that I do marketing for a living, I thought I would dive into the idea of the Starbucks card and see what impact it is having on … [Read more...]
Starbucks bombs on their “Big Surprise”
Starbucks recently sent out a vague but intriguing email inviting me to attend an in-store event to "celebrate something big." They used big statements like "We're doing something big at Starbucks. Like Venti big." and "We can't tell you what's going to happen because that'll ruin the surprise." Here's a snapshot of the email they sent. Yesterday, the day before the "big surprise," I got another email from Starbucks. Is anyone else wondering why they decided to take the surprise out of the … [Read more...]