Starbucks Data-Driven Social Media Campaign

Jesse Keating, Noelle Saluan, Chloe Slavin & Megan Stechler

Overview of Organizational Brief

● Starbucks Mission○ “To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one

neighborhood at a time.”● Structure for Social Relationships

○ Social media team within their global digital marketing department■ Social Media Managers■ Community Managers■ Social Media Strategists

● PR/Communication Strategies○ Content is inclusive, respectful with an emotional appeal to audiences○ Aims to be creative and captivating

Overview of Organizational Brief

● Key Takeaway○ Starbucks’ is dedicated to

community service, humanity and environment

Overview of Social Media Map● Map

○ In-degree Centrality■ The higher the in-degree centrality, the bigger the node.

■ High degree blue | Low degree green.

○ Walking Dead Heavily Featured■ Starbucks consumers enjoy content that promotes the integration of

the Starbucks brand with pop culture icons.

■ Starbucks, as a brand, is therefore positioned as a unifier between the

common person and those who are famous.

Social Media Map

Keywords OverviewKeyword Findings

● Top Urls○ Satirical Articles, New Coverage and Blog Posts○ Starbucks Japan Blog○ Customer voice

● Top Domains○ Social Media Platforms○ Careerac○ Blog sites

● Top Hashtags○ Negan○ Hiring○ GiveGood

Top Words● Starbucks:166

○ Most used word when talking about brand.

● Rt: 83○ Word is most prominent

in Negan and “Liberal Costume”.

● Holiday: 30○ Relates to unveiling of

Holiday Cup. ● Barista: 29

○ Job listings via careerarc portal.

● Cup: 24○ Unveiling of Holiday

Cup.

Keywords

Tone Overview● Average Sentient Score of Audience’s Tweets

○ .53435 ● Calculated 262 scores (excluding tweets generated from Starbucks account):

○ Positive (1) - 182○ Neutral (0) - 37○ Share of Voice - 219○ Negative (-1) - 42

● As a result, roughly 83% of the conversation surrounding Starbucks was positive on Twitter.

Tone OverviewNegative Tone of Conversation

○ Holiday cups, customer service, and brand.Neutral Tone of Conversation

○ New holiday cups, and Starbucks locations.Positive Tone of Conversation

○ Pop culture and holiday cups.

Additional Analysis● Tone interacts with Content Creation

○ Interactive, Engaging○ Uplifting, Inspiring○ Values Based○ Inclusive○ Joyful, Happy

Influencers Overview

Retweet Overview● Four of the ten most retweeted tweets came from from verified accounts,

which makes sense because these accounts have the highest number of followers.

- Celebrities- Michael Cudlitz (690 K Followers) - Niall Horan (35.9M Followers)

● The remaining six tweets highly retweeted tweets came from accounts that varied between very high followings and very low followings (49- 70.7 K Followers).

- Organizations- Japanese Starbucks

Account (4.11 M Followers)- Sansiri (113 K Followers)

Retweet Overview● 4 of the top 10 re tweeted tweets focused on Starbucks seasonal drinks and cups and of

those 4, 3 were negative or satirical.

● Only one of the tweets was positive and it came from the Japanese Starbucks account and the contents related to a new “Raspberry White Mocha Flavor that is available for the holidays.

● The remaining three tweets came off as satirical and negative, often showing how the Starbucks holiday cups do more harm than good by starting controversy

■ Starbucks releasing a satanic cup■ People who identify as politically liberal will be incredibly fragile and offended upon the

release of the Starbucks holiday cup ■ Alluded to the fact that the Starbucks holiday cups were out earlier than usual and that

the design warranted discussion.

Retweet Overview● 4 of the top 10 re tweeted tweets focused on Starbucks seasonal drinks and cups and of

those 4, 3 were negative or satirical.

● Only one of the tweets was positive and it came from the Japanese Starbucks account and the contents related to a new “Raspberry White Mocha Flavor that is available for the holidays.

● The remaining three tweets came off as satirical and negative, often showing how the Starbucks holiday cups do more harm than good by starting controversy

■ Starbucks releasing a satanic cup■ People who identify as politically liberal will be incredibly fragile and offended upon the

release of the Starbucks holiday cup ■ Alluded to the fact that the Starbucks holiday cups were out earlier than usual and that

the design warranted discussion.

Situational Analysis: Strengths

Strong, loyal and active following

- Number of followers in relation to competitors- High In-degree centrality ranking in data set

Users are creating and sharing their own content

- The Walking Dead tweet- The Starbucks Halloween costume tweet

Users are conversing about Starbucks on social media

- Sentiments are relatively positive

Situational Analysis: WeaknessesStarbucks is known to be a source of controversy

- Brand community is expressing dissatisfaction with the holiday cup. - Political and religious controversy - Conversation sentiments are less positive- Establishes Starbucks as more exclusive than inclusive

Situational Analysis: OpportunitiesDominates the Share of Voice

- In this data set alone, Starbucks occupied a share of voice score of 219 out of a total of 262 tweets

Largest Following in Comparison to Competitors

- Starbucks:11.9 million followers - Dunkin’ Donuts 1.19 million followers - Bruegger’s Bagels: 11, 700 followers- Einstein Bros.: 8,489 followers

Celebrity Interaction with Starbucks’ Twitter

- Highly retweeted The Walking Dead tweet from Michael Cudlitz

Situational Analysis: ThreatsMajority of Tweets are about the Holidays

- There is little to no tweeting of the holidays by competitor accounts- This provokes the controversy that surrounds the Starbucks brand

Exudes a High-Class, Exclusive brand identity

- Twitter bio of Starbucks is philosophical compared to Dunkin’ Donuts- Starbuck’s Twitter content looks as if it stages and shot professionally,whereas

Dunkin’ Donuts looks as if it was created by the everyday consumer - Establishes competitor brands as personable and relatable

Situational Analysis: ThreatsStarbucks Twitter Bio Dunkin’ Donuts Twitter Bio

Situational Analysis: ThreatsStarbucks Twitter Content Dunkin’ Twitter Content

Situational Analysis: ThreatsStrengths/ Opportunities

- Users are inclined to create content- Strong and loyal following- Robust conversation exists

surrounding Starbucks- Celebrity interaction (influencers)

Weaknesses/ Opportunities- Conversation that exists about

Starbucks being politically and religiously controversial can be utilized to increase following or re-establish Starbucks’ brand

Strengths/ Threats- Robust conversation surrounding

Starbucks’ holiday cup can lead to a negative reputation for Starbucks

- High-class and trendy brand persona can come off as exclusive and “uppity”

Weaknesses/ Threats- Competitor brands do not garner

controversy on social media and may be seen as more ethical

- Competitor brand’s social media appear more personable to the average customer.

Get Good, Give Good Campaign- Overall ConceptThe Get Good, Give Good campaign is a seasonal endeavor to bring technology to the inner city youth of the United States. This is a facet of the Starbucks Foundation, which seeks to provide America's youth with “pathways to opportunity by investing in programs that equip young people with the skills required for the changing global economy” (Starbucks 2017). As means of combatting the controversial nature of annual Starbucks’ holiday campaign, this holiday-oriented campaign will expand on past seasonal campaigns by promoting the purchase of seasonal holiday cups and drinks for a charitable initiative.Therefore, the Get Good, Give Good campaign centers on the idea that for each purchase of a Starbucks holiday drink or bakery item, using the Starbucks app, a portion of the proceeds will go towards purchasing technology for the closest inner city school of the select purchase.

Campaign- Goals

1. Position Starbucks as a leader in the specialty coffee market as well as a leader in charitable efforts.

2. Bolster positive sentiments among the social media brand community.

3. Redefine Starbucks’ brand identity one that is conscious of the real world issues as opposed to its current superficial, elitist and controversial reputation.

Campaign- Objectives

1. Position Starbucks as a leader in the specialty coffee market as well as a leader in charitable efforts.a. Increase downloading and usage of the Starbucks mobile app.

2. Bolster positive sentiments among the social media brand community.a. Shift the content of online conversation regarding Starbucks holiday campaign from one of

heated and controversial religious and political debate to one that focuses on the universal goodness of charitable giving.

3. Redefine Starbucks’ brand identity one that is well-rounded and as opposed to its current superficial, elitist and controversial reputation.

a. Increase awareness of Starbucks’ mission to better homes, neighborhoods and communities one cup of coffee at a time among the social media brand community during the holiday season.

Target Audience #GiveGoodGetGood focuses on two key target audiences: Millennials and Generation X. Let’s take a look at the numbers:

● 48.6% of Millennials and 48.8% Gen Xers follow brands on social media● 42% of Millennials follow brands primarily for information while 58% of Gen

Xers follow brands for deals and promos and 41% of Gen Xers follow for social contests

● 70% of both Millennials and Gen Xers are prone to follow brands that they have positive experiences with (ie: #GiveGoodGetGood)

● Fun fact: Smartphones are the most used method for accessing social media

Target Audience Millennials

● Make up 80 million consumers in the US alone ● Social generation and social while consuming

○ Vast majority claim taking action on behalf of a brand and sharing the brand via social channels

● Highly values driven generation ○ Integrate their beliefs and causes into a

company to support their purchases and day-to-day interactions

○ More than 50% of millennials make an effort to buy products from companies that support causes they care about

Generation X

● Fastest growing target audience to use social media

● Highest rate of brand loyalty at 84% ● More likely to buy a service or product that

benefits society or the environment ● 80% of this generation reports that their main

social platforms utilized are Facebook and Twitter ● 7 out of 10 Gen Xers are inclined to buy from a

company they follow on social channels ● Utilize visually engaging and vibrant video based

content ● Often the ‘forgotten’ marketing segment, but

utilize social channels more than millennials

Campaign- Key Messages

1. Starbucks is technologically savvy.a. This relates to the goal of being a leader in coffee product and service and can be

accomplished by using the Starbucks app.

2. Starbucks cares about giving back.a. This relates to the goal of breaking Starbucks’ current controversial and superficial reputation.

This message will show that Starbucks cares about more than a simple holiday cup design and their reputation will quickly become positive.

3. Ordinary consumers can make a societal difference when buying from Starbucks.

a. This relates to the goal of increasing the positive sentiments surrounding Starbucks on social media. By tying the holiday campaign to a cause that is close to consumers’ hearts, in this case the betterment of local schools, people will be more inclined to post about the good-nature of Starbucks rather than debating over the meaning of the holiday cup design.

Strategies & TacticsStrategy #1

● Downloading the app ○ Inform people about the app ○ Tying the overall use of the app to the overall technology aspect of the

campaign Tactic #1● Downloading the app

○ Informing about the app■ Share via social media about the app with videos or gifs

Strategies & TacticsStrategy #2

● Want people to see Starbucks as someone who cares about local “the little guys”○ Promoting product that relates to major cities in the United States that will benefit from this

initiative ○ Allowing customers to physically partake in giving back and understand the impact

Tactic #2● Starbucks cares about local

○ Promoting product that relates to major cities in the US■ Seasonal drink for each major city■ Sleeve for each city

● Promote via social with hashtag○ Allow customers to physically partake and understand their impact

■ Thermometer via app that is shared to social

Strategies & Tactics Strategy #3● Want people to share the mission of Starbucks and reposition

Starbucks as a brand○ Share on social media following app purchase

Tactic #3

● Share the mission and reposition the brand○ Generated tweet through app with hashtag when someone donates and

how many people they helped.

Budget● Tactic #1:

○ Content Creation: In house, employee

salary (marketing department).

○ Promoted Tweets: $2.00 per

engagement (How Much do Ads on

Twitter Cost?, 2015).

○ Promoted Trend: $200,000.00 (How

Much do Ads on Twitter Cost?, 2015).

● Tactic #2

○ Influencer Outreach: $763.00

(Herald, 2017, p. 3)

● Tactic #3

○ Autogenerated Tweets:

In house, marketing

department. (Employee salary).