Before it's terribly old news...

I read a post today in my Google Reader from the lovely ladies at Yaybia-- I admit I was a few days behind on my subscriptions. This post about the Starbucks give-away caught my attention because it was a great discussion of marketing from the price perspective and basic branding that pulled in so many things I've learned in school and beyond. And while I agree with many of the things Libby had to say and know that many of the ad community feel the same way, I wanted to throw my two bits into the pot.

Starbucks has always been a premium-price brand. We started using the price of coffee as a benchmark for how much money we spend. ("For the price of only four of your morning coffees, you could get a whole month of digital cable!") They raised the prices, and we complained. And yet as they lowered the prices, the ad community sang out "The alpha brand that was Starbucks is fading fast! They're pulling at straws by lowering their price now that McD's has cheap iced coffee! They're clearly losing it." I disagree. McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts are on a totally different price point, even after the price drops. And furthermore, as Libby points out, its unlikely that the same folks who used to drop into Starbucks every morning are now opting for some McDonald's cafe lattes. Though they seem to have missed the mark a bit with the random brand extensions with the breakfast foods and whatnot-- who wants to walk into a coffee shop expecting coffee and instead smelling omelets and bacon? Ew. --Starbucks ultimately has a brand experience that goes with the coffee (not to mention the whole status bit.) It's still the third space. It's still about the aesthetic. It's still about the music and the coffee and the feel. 

But the big to-do lately has been the coffee giveaway for voters. It seemed the ad community taunted them again with claims of losing their grip, but to me, it seemed a return to brand even if it didn't follow traditional pricing rules. Starbucks' brand personality includes music, philanthropy and politics--with the Ethos Water sold there and the distribution of Good Magazine and free music downloads, I find it hard to believe that anyone would think encouraging citizens to vote is a bad brand fit.

If anything, Starbucks found a way to be relevant again-- they recognized that the economy sucks and we're gonna love a little boost with some free coffee. They realized that getting out to vote was crucial for getting us out of this economic crisis (regardless of which candidate you thought was capable of doing so). Starbucks was there and I don't think we should have been surprised. And if I had more than $5 in my bank account (no, for real) I would go and buy myself a tasty hazelnut hot chocolate and curl up with a book at the Starbucks on Van Ness. Alas, instead I'll just have to stick to blogging about it and congratulate them on what I thought was a great move.

Well played, Starbucks. Cheers.