Starbucks is well-known by most US consumers as a café. Only a minority are aware of its availability as a grocery product. Although awareness of the Starbucks name (including both cafes and coffee) is high at 75%, awareness of Starbucks Coffee presence in grocery stores lags behind at 31% nationally. The retail coffee category is hugely competitive; Starbucks Coffee plays in the super premium segment of the category, commanding a relatively high price and appealing to coffee enthusiasts.In media, only the more established players invest. Starbucks Coffee’s investment had been limited to radio. Awareness and sales had reached a plateau; the brand had captured early adopters and needed to be more aggressive in order to widen the consumer franchise.Investment was focused exclusively on expanding the customer base by focusing on a core target of “Attuned Explorers” – individuals seeking out new product, ideas, and experiences at the advice of peers.The objective was to engage the core audience by “giving something back” to them through media. The strategy also had to minimize the risk of cannibalizing Starbucks cafes’ business by driving the “at home” message. “The film festival in your living room”Every Friday evening Bravo airs a film from its sister company, the Independent Film Channel (IFC). These films perfectly fit the profile of Attuned Explorers”. Starbucks Coffee took the opportunity to add to the viewing experience by buying all commercial units within highly acclaimed films on four Fridays in March. The films were: The Apostle:Robert Duvall The Slums of Beverly Hills:Alan Arkin Afterglow:Nick Nolte Gods and Monsters:Ian McKellanResearch evidence suggests that TV viewers prefer to see selected films without commercial breaks. This proved absolutely true for the Starbucks Coffee audience. This insight sparked the idea of how to “give something back”. Despite owning the commercial airtime Starbucks Coffee did not advertise within the films.Each presentation ran uninterrupted, adding unique value to the experience of the viewers. To achieve this, we established a unique make-good for local cable operators, who owned a certain number of commercial units. Working with Bravo we developed a unique (non-related) promotional opportunity for each cable operator as compensation.Starbucks Coffee’s TV presence came in the form of Bravo promotions through the week leading up to the film screening and a sixty second introduction to the film featuring Starbucks Coffee aired immediately before. These were designed, produced, and paid for by Bravo under the direction of the media and marketing teams.MediaVest built on the property by tying the Starbucks Coffee IFC Fridays to the Independent Spirit Awards, the independent film industry’s annual event. Each of the commercial-free films had been previously nominated for the Awards. The Independent Film Festival took place on Bravo and IFC on the fourth weekend in March, complimenting the schedule of movies. Starbucks Coffee presence in the festival via billboards and promotional spots ensured a presence in every one of the five weekends in March.The first communication the consumer received was a direct mail piece sent to 3 million targeted homes, providing a coupon towards purchase of Starbucks Coffee and a viewer guide introducing the Starbucks Coffee IFC Fridays and the independent Spirit Awards sponsorship.Starbucks Coffee achieved 3,200 seconds of highly targeted national TV without aligning themselves with the ‘advertising’ community. After the first two weeks of airings, season to date ratings increased an average of 33%. The idea has created significant advantage for Starbucks Coffee by attracting a wider base of like-minded individual to its message using a strategy fundamentally in keeping with the brand essence. The program contributed to a sales increase of 15%. Given the marketing task, the media team knew from experience and intuition that the strategy should utilize the television medium. Yet there was a significant barrier to taking the conventional route – the barrier was the very essence of the brand.Necessity is the mother of invention. The expectation was a strategy that compromised and used media outside TV to answer the brief. Instead, we devised a TV-based platform that enabled a broader range of effective communications. The idea of “advertising on television” without a commercial, whilst at the same time being able to “give something back” to a demanding audience was the media team’s inspiration.From the initial concept through content creation and final implementation the media team played an integral, if not lead, role. Critically, we were able to secure the support of the (non group) advertising agency at the earliest stage. The relationship with the media partner was handled at the center by the media team. MediaVest found a unique way to reach a broader target audience using TV – without compromising the brand’s premium image.It was vital that we create a relevant media property that widened the customer base for Starbucks Coffee. To answer the growth challenge, Starbucks Coffee considered developing a television presence. However, Starbucks brand essence is generally not in keeping with extensive TV campaigns and glossy commercials. In seeking to widen the consumer base using TV, there was a risk of adversely affecting the brand’s valuable equity.Despite the apparent barriers, a presence was developed on television – with Bravo. Bravo was a perfect fit for Starbucks Coffee. It offered a combination of the right audience and perfectly relevant programming for the consumer’s mindset. Bravo was able to secure a share of Starbucks Coffee investment for the first time, create broader awareness of the films and ultimately increase final rating through related activity. This was a win – win.

Given the marketing task, the media team knew from experience and intuition that that the strategy should utilize the television medium. Yet there was a significant barrier to taking the conventional route – the barrier was the very essence of the brand.Necessity is the mother of invention. The expectation was a strategy that compromised and used media outside TV to answer the brief. Instead, we devised a TV-based platform that enabled a broader range of effective communications. The idea of “advertising on television” without a commercial, whilst at the same time being able to “give something back” to a demanding audience was the media team’s inspiration.

From the initial concept through content creation and final implementation the media team played an integral, if not lead, role. Critically, we were able to secure the support of the (non group) advertising agency at the earliest stage. The relationship with the media partner was handled at the center by the media team.