Starbucks Energizes its Customer Base Close to Home

Starbucks has been an active participant in the groundswell for quite some time now. Die hard customers can interact with Starbucks via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, as well as on the Starbucks website. But there is a very large customer base that you wouldn't initially think to separate out from the general crowd of Starbucks addicts...its own partners (what Starbucks calls its employees)!

I have worked at Starbucks for the past 4 years and can openly admit that being a barista is not the easiest job. BUT, Starbucks is an amazing company to work for and does a lot to support its employees. Starbucks is so dedicated to listening to the part of the groundswell that is their partners, that they even have Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat social media channels dedicated specifically to partners! So why does Starbucks care about what its partners have to say about the company? Because Starbucks partners are probably the most enthusiastic group of people I've ever met. 

Me with my store manager, Sheri, and fellow shift manager, Courntey celebrating National Croissant Day!

In Li and Bernoff's book, Groundswell, the authors describe energizing as "finding enthusiastic customers and turning them into word-of mouth machines." Starbucks does exactly this with their partners...Let's take a look at a recent example. 

2015 Partner White Cup Contest

Starbucks held the 2015 White Cup Contest amongst partners to create the best design on a plain white cup. The winning designs would be made into reusable cups and sold at Starbucks stores across the country! To enter the contest, partners had to design a cup and post it on Instagram with the hashtag #PartnerCupContest. 

In allowing partners to enter their designs via social media, Starbucks was doing what Li and Bernoff call "energizing the base," which is a group of your most important customers. The authors also explain that when a company energizes the base, "It expects you to listen." So the company not only viewed all of these partner's posts, but they also responded by selecting winners AND selling those designs in their stores!

Needless to say, this contest went viral, with partners blowing up Instagram. The brilliance of having partners post on Instagram is that their friends will also be able to see the posts- this does 3 things: 

1. It's the perfect reminder that Starbucks is a cool company.
2. It is free advertising for new cups.
3. It makes you want to go to Starbucks and buy a coffee.

Just look at how much conversation this post is generating!

This is a great example of what Li and Bernoff call self-spreading: "if a product is worth using, its word of mouth generates more word of mouth in a cascade that's literally exponential." The word of mouth that is created by this contest reinforces people's positive feelings towards Starbucks, which creates new customers and keeps them coming back!

Needless to say, Starbucks is truly a supportive company that encourages a symbiotic relationship with its employees. This relationship energizes employees, and keeps them feeling enthusiastic about their job. In return, Starbucks gets free advertising and a strong team of employees. I am proud to be a Starbucks Partner!

P.S. Curious about the results? Check out the winners and runners up here!

Boston Calling- The Social Media Event of the Weekend

 This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend the 6th Boston Calling Music Festival and it was AMAZING! The bands were phenomenal and the whole atmosphere was energizing, with a strong grassroots feel. Even the video the festival put out to announce the September 2015 lineup looks like something that could have been made by a group of friends who wanted to make a cool YouTube video:

Needless to say, it was a perfect end of Summer/intro to Fall kind of event. What surprised me throughout the weekend was how consistently active the festival's social media was. I downloaded the Boston Calling App which was great for making a schedule of which bands I wanted to see and when they were playing. 

The app is very user friendly, and even sent me reminders before a band was about to go on. The most exciting/helpful part about this use of technology: there was more where it came from. It's safe to say that the festival was such a success thanks to the groundswell... Here's why:

The Boston Calling Facebook page and Instagram were both pretty active throughout the weekend. Pictures of each act went up after nearly every performance! I think its important to give snaps to the Boston Calling social media team for their attentiveness to festival goers. Monday morning a visitor to the Facebook page posted this plea for a lost cell phone:

Unfortunately the phone hasn't been found, but the fact that the Boston Calling team made the effort to respond and reassure the fan that they will be in touch if the phone is found. It's the little things like this that make this festival so personable!

We also have to appreciate how humble the Boston Calling team is in their posts. Take this one for example;                                                         Part of the reason why people (or at least why I) love going to this festival is the humanity that the Boston Calling team shows for its fans. It's like when you go to your friend's house for dinner and they thank you for coming over, but in reality YOU should be the one saying thank you for the delicious meal your friend just served you. When I saw this post I had the urge to reply, "No, thank you Boston Calling!"

And lastly, The Boston Calling Twitter page was a beautiful outlet for performers to share their thanks and positivity.  

Even as I'm writing this post I am still in awe of how tactical and genuinely enthusiastic Boston Calling's social media held up throughout the weekend. It made me feel even more connected to what was going on throughout the weekend...a nice way to take a break and enjoy some promising up-and-coming bands!

My question to you all is, have you been to this festival or other ones like it where social media was used to heavily? I haven't come across this consistent of a social media presence at other festivals and am curious if anyone else has.