To resonate with Millennials, we needed to identify the best methods to reach them – which led us to James Corden and The Late Late Show. Corden’s credentials as a hilarious, relatable late show host – and creator of viral bits like Carpool Karaoke – would resonate with Millennials. And, during the campaign’s launch, Corden also had more Millennial viewers than any other late night host. We would work with Corden and his writing team to identify the next big viral hit, while finding a creative idea only Starbucks could execute.

Enter: Starbucks Theater! The phenomenon of LA Starbucks chock full of screenwriters working on the next big screenplay struck us as an incredible opportunity. Why not send Corden into a Starbucks, find an aspiring screenwriter, and produce their “feature film” right then and there?

Starbucks Theater would come to life – and a few talented baristas would become stars.

Corden’s passionate Millennial audience and refreshing sense of humor made for a perfect combination. Corden transformed a Starbucks café into a movie set and used in-store items – like coffee filters and napkins – as props. He turned customers into actors and baristas into stars. One barista played the leading lady to guest star Jason Schwartzman’s leading man while other baristas danced the tarantella. The entire film concluded with a dramatic knife fight (fought with Starbucks iconic green straws).

Voila! Starbucks Theater was born.

The segment aired in-show and was syndicated in stand-alone form across multiple digital platforms. After airing, Starbucks Theater could be viewed on LLS’s YouTube channel and CBS.com’s LLS video page. James live-tweeted the segment on his personal and Late Late Show accounts. Follow-up posts from LLS’s social channel embedded teaser content, driving to the full integration. A behind-the-scenes photo gallery on CBS.com completed this robust content experience.

Our segment captured Millennials’ attention across multiple screens. The YouTube syndicated segment saw immediate success – 536,000+ views its first week, outperforming nearly all LLS YouTube averages by almost 2.5x.

To date, the segment garnered more than 1.3MM views and 99% positive rating – with more than half of ALL viewers watching 9+ minutes of the 12-minute integration!

Commenters begged James for more: “THIS IS BY FAR MY FAVORITE VIDEO FROM THE LATE LATE SHOW.”

A custom Nielsen study backed up the results:

• Starbucks Theater integration in LLS outperformed averages for Late Night integrations by as much as 238% when it came to Brand Opinion.

• Consumers who watched the Starbucks ad airing adjacent to our integration had a significantly more positive reaction than other viewers, with Brand Memorability lifts (+280%), Message Memorability (+226%, and Likeability (+463%).

We wanted Millennials to feel good about going to Starbucks and we succeeded.