Recently, Starbucks was named the most popular consumer brand in the social media sphere by Famecount, a website that aggregates data from various social media channels. While I’m skeptical of any direct insight this provides into the concrete popularity of Starbucks as a brand, nearly 7.5 million Facebook fans, 901,925 Twitter followers, and 6,509 YouTube subscribers are numbers too high to be ignored.
It seems almost impossible that just two years after the recession spurred numerous Starbucks store closings – a result of more expensive coffee seeming ever more frivolous – the company would bounce back to have such a strong presence in the virtual world as well as the tangible one.
Here are the two main reasons I see for Starbucks social media “comeback”:
- Online Engagement – From providing coupons through its Facebook page to offering free drinks and other perks to Starbucks gift cardholders who register online, Starbucks has given patrons a reason to engage with its brand in social media channels. With MyStarbucksIdea.com and a number of social media and environmental efforts, it has successfully positioned itself as a company that cares about its consumers, their opinions and the world in which they live.
- Customization – Though once pinned as the coffee people drank to assimilate, Starbucks has been marketing itself as a brand that encourages individuality and self-expression. With its recent rollout of the “however-you-want-it” Frappuccino and clever ads for Via – its new line of instant coffee – that highlight coffee drinkers’ idiosyncrasies, Starbucks gives the impression that the brand for everyone, but everyone need not be the same to enjoy it.
