Saturday, November 6, 2010

The New Starbucks Experience

Starbucks logoImage via Wikipedia

The Starbucks Experience is going to the Web.

In early October Starbucks launched The Starbucks Digital Network, a new way to enhance patrons’ visit to the coffee shop. The network will offer exclusive access to music, videos, coffee news and other multimedia, according the Starbucks website.
Since 1971, when the Starbucks Coffee Company was founded it has been “committed to ethically sourcing and roasting the highest quality coffee in the world” and to abiding by the “Starbucks Experience,” which the company believes goes hand-in-hand with providing a good cup of coffee.

News with your coffee
The Starbucks Digital Network, in partnership with Yahoo! will “hand-picked premium news, entertainment and lifestyle content along with local insights and events, the Starbucks Digital Network,  is powered by free Wi-Fi and available only in Starbucks stores.” The network will be compatible with all Wi-Fi enabled laptops, iPads or smart phones, according to the Starbucks website.

What Starbucks has to say
"Our customers are the inspiration for the Starbucks Digital Network. They’ve told us they want to be the first to know what’s happening in their neighborhoods and around the globe, to have an easy way to discover new music, great books and important films and find ways to be more involved in their communities. And they’re connecting with the brand digitally in numerous ways,” said Stephen Gillett,
Starbucks executive vice president, chief information officer and Digital Ventures general manager in a press release. “These points combined with our passion for creating a unique customer experience, our heritage of recommending culturally-relevant works and focus on giving back to the community, led us to create this new, one-of-a-kind, localized content experience with Yahoo!.”

What the Customer thinks 
Katey Yinger of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, said she goes to Starbucks for the atmosphere.
“It ‘s a great place to relax, get a good cup of coffee and get stuff done,” she said.  “It has a great atmosphere for that.”
Yinger said the introduction of the Starbucks Network, in her opinion is a “smart move for Starbucks.”

“Starbucks is already known for things like their music … and people like it” she said. “So why not give special access to people in their [shops]. It’s good for business and probably good for the artists.”
One of the main reasons Yinger goes to Starbucks, she said, is because she knows she will always get a good cup of coffee and that the employees will be “very pro-customer.”

“For people who really like coffee, and I do, I know I will always get what I want, there a no surprises,” she said. “And when I don’t, they’ll make again … they take care of the customers and I know I’m getting good coffee.”

Yinger also said along with the new network, she is excited about other experiments Starbucks is trying, like selling wine and a shop in Seattle.
 “It’s all very interesting,” she said.  “I think it will really develop their image and maybe people will think differently about Starbucks … they’ll get more people in the door.”

-Becky
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