Quite a bit has changed in the world since 2003. Social Media is now all around us and is so much more accessible. Starbucks has done an amazing job with its social media campaigns. Let's take a look at what they have done to get the groundswell talking about Pumpkin Spice Lattes.
Facebook:
The Starbucks Facebook page is doing quite well with a whopping 35,946,175 followers (as of 10/13/15). The page is used mostly for posting deals and upcoming events. There is less conversation and more information sharing on this page, which is fine if that is what your audience works best with (It is still inconclusive to me whether Starbucks customers are looking for more conversation with the company, or if they are happy with how things are done now...hopefully more to come on that in part 2!).
Though the Pumpkin Spice Latte was set to launch on September 8th this year, people with the Starbucks App were able to create a pass to buy a PSL early! This is a pretty good method to make your most loyal customers feel like they're receiving a perk for being a frequent customer!
Twitter:
The Starbucks Twitter is also quite popular, with 10.2 million followers. Similar to the company's Facebook page, there is a lot of information sharing on promotions and new products. Over the past few weeks there have been a lot of posts about the various Fall themed foods you can eat with a Pumpkin Spice Latte, such as the Pumpkin Scone (my personal fave), the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin, and the Washington Apple Poundcake.Looking through the large number of replies that Starbucks sends to its fan's tweets is impressive, and really proves how dedicated the company is to its customers. Some replies are apologies for a drink made incorrectly, others (like the one below) are just silly responses to things customers are saying.
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| How adorable is this? It looks like a conversation that friends would have. Just another reason to love Starbucks! |
There is also a Pumpkin Spice Latte Twitter page that is absolutely hysterical to follow. The PSL is personified as a sassy hipster that just wants to be your friend.
This page is strictly for fun and encouraging customers to be silly with their Pumpkin Spice Lattes and getting them to share PSL tweets with their friends.
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| This year the PSL recipe changed to include actual pumpkin puree. The PSL was quite proud to share this about itself! |
The Trends
Google Trends:
Goole Trends is a tool used to track how much a topic is being discussed online. Here we see how the Pumpkin Spice Latte has been doing since it's third year available for sale. The chatter has increased year over year, with a large spike in 2013-when Starbucks celebrated the PSL's 10 year anniversary, and continued growth ever since.
One of the reasons the Pumpkin Spice Latte is so successful is due to its scarcity- the syrup needed to make the latte only comes out once a year during the Fall. The seasonal appearance of the PSL makes people want it even more-but it also means that people are only talking about it in full force when it is available. Here we see that there was no conversation around the PSL until approximately the week before it's official launch date!
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| This kind of marketing can be a blessing and a curse- sales go up for a period of time, but wouldn't be sustainable if the product was available year round. |
MeltWater IceRocket:
Melt Water Ice Rocket is another tool where you can see how active a topic is on Twitter and in the blogosphere. The Pumpkin Spice Latte is not mentioned by tons of blogs, but it is enough to put it on the map.
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| I believe that the increase between September 22-25 is a result of Starbucks launching its new Mobile Order and Pay function on the app.
I also wanted to add in this graph that compares mentions of Starbucks to mentions of the Pumpkin Spice Latte, just for reference. This shows that while the PSL does create a buzz, it is nothing compared to discussion around the company itself.
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| I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing that the PSL doesn't get as much attention as Starbucks itself. I think it would be a bad sign if there was more talk around one product than the whole company! |
Social Mention:
Strength- the likelihood that your brand is being discussed via social media.
Sentiment- ratio of positive to negative mentions.
Passion- likelihood that the people talking about our brand will do so repeatedly.
Reach- the range of influence, or the number of unique authors mentioning your brand divided by the total number of mentions
Overall the PSL is keeping a similar pace with Starbucks in terms of mention data, but I wonder if that is only because it is the time of year when this drink is at its peak popularity. I wish I could go back and see how the PSL did in social mentions during the summer. That might tell a different story...
Pumpkin Spice Latte: Starbucks:
So how do we think the PSL is doing?
Based on the data I've shared with you here I think that the PSL is doing just fine for itself. Customers love it and anticipate its return year after year- you can tell by the excitement that is drummed up via social media! Overall I think the Pumpkin Spice Latte is a positive way for Starbucks to maintain their strong bond and connection with its customers. I personally wait all year for the Pumpkin Spice Latte to come out, so Starbucks must be doing something right!
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| Me when I get my first PSL of the season :p |
I haven’t tried the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte yet, but I like the way that Starbucks used for campaign. The posts on social media are always very funny. I enjoy reading them though I never tasted the new Latte. Indeed, Starbucks is very good at making events or creating topic, and attracting people’s attention. It is not only a coffee company giant, but also a social media giant. There are a lot of lessons we should learn from the company.
ReplyDeleteStarbucks is good at using social media to engage their customers! They like to respond complaints from people and help them solve problems. I agree with Kun's thought, company should learn more from Starbucks! Good post!
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