Starbucks was a long-time favourite of both Wall Street and Main Street but as the economy has weakened, it’s been held up as an unnecessary and expensive purchase. Yet, especially in this economic climate, customers are taking account of both value and a company’s values when making purchasing decisions. This campaign was designed to remind customers that Starbucks is a good company and to make them part of something “bigger than coffee”.We strategically focused on times of the year when social consciousness was already raised. We decided that the best way to get people to take action was to take action ourselves so we created a simple construct: “if you do something, we’ll do something.” If you cared enough to vote, we would care enough to give you a free coffee. If you cared about AIDS in Africa, we would give five cents from every drink you bought. If you cared about helping our new president remake America through community service, we would give you information on local volunteerism opportunities (and a free coffee).With just a small investment the campaign helped generate a movement. Success was measured by a reversal in brand declines and active consumer engagement.

While the offers themselves demonstrated Starbucks’ values, all of the creative promotions reminded consumers that their relationship with Starbucks is “bigger than coffee”. The message was ‘we’re a place too – a sanctuary, a place to connect with others and to think. Together, we can be a social movement’.Using captivating music and typographic animation, TV and online videos asked rhetorical questions to engage both hearts and minds. Online ads were designed to immediately convert interest into action – providing consumers with links to more information or to send along to a friend. In-store materials reinforced the offer so they could participate directly. PR efforts were designed so opinion leaders like Oprah and local DJs could personally tell others why they should join together with Starbucks.

After “Vote”, “Red”, and “Volunteer”, customers were more likely to say we were a good company than they were in the previous six months. Positive brand beliefs led to the following consumer actions:- Vote:Despite running a TV spot once, Starbucks saw a 30% boost in store traffic. Two million cups of free coffee were redeemed by voters. Starbucks was tweeted via Twitter every eight seconds on Election Day, making it the second most twittered subject, and its Social Media Index shot to 7,880 on Tuesday (vs. 278 on 10/21/08.). - Red: The Facebook Event RSVP for Red resulted in 998,679 RSVPs – the highest ever on Facebook. 1.21 million virtual drinks were sent via Facebook. Proceeds from the Red purchases paid for 2.2 million days of medicine. - Volunteer: More than 250,000 people participated, pledging 1.25 million hours – far surpassing the goal of 1 million pledged hours. The event received 283,281 Facebook RSVPs.