Speaking of good marketing… well almost

Starbucks recently closed for three hours to ‘re-train’ their associates how to make coffee. And every single press outlets in the US went with the story. Some said that they’d loose millions in revenue shutting down to do so. No, it was simply genius marketing. Use the time to do standard training and make it an event so big that every outlet in every area of media made it a story. What’s that worth? A billion dollars in advertising, all free. Close down at night on your slowest night. Retrain your associates. Tell the press and put bright yellow signs on your door saying you will close three hours before closing time to retrain your associates. And the results of this marketing gimmick is you garnish new brand loyalty and solidify your old customer base. In the publics eye, and what they want to portray is that Starbuck’s cares and they must be making that coffee I remember being so good since they are being re-trained. Better go down and try it now. They lost nothing doing it and gained a heck of a lot of beans… well almost.

They forgot one thing. While they got press story after press story, they didn’t make it clear that they were closing to improve the quality of their coffee and bring the chain back to its roots. Aegis Group’s research arm Synovate found in a survey of 1,000 consumers that 75% of respondents knew of the closing. BUT… less than half knew why it had closed. So much for a great idea that had more press than Britney Spears going to Starbucks for a Latte. At least we know why she goes… or do we?