Starbucks Needs A New PR Strategy

I'm a huge fan and long-time customer of Starbucks. So, when I recently came across a few articles that talked about Starbucks having issues with sales, of course, I went to the comments to see what people were saying. I always try to gauge the overall sentiment of targeted consumers by doing a bit of social media listening. I think you can often gather a good understanding of what might be going wrong. In this post, I'll be talking about what is going on with Starbucks, why Starbucks needs a new PR strategy, and what are my recommendations.

Description Of The Situation

Starbucks reported a 3% decline within the past three months. However, sales are up due to the increased prices. The CEO, Kevin Johnson, believes that the racial bias training that was conducted earlier this year had a huge impact on the decline in sales. According to Buzzfeed News, they are going to continue their efforts in "reinforcing its commitment to improving current transaction trends by focusing on three priorities for growth: improving customers' in-store experience, delivering beverage innovation, and driving digital relationship." The chain is also "seeing a decline in sales of Frappuccinos, its signature and ever-evolving line-up of cold drinks," according to USA Today.

Why Starbucks Needs A New PR Strategy

Top comments for many consumers regarded the prices. This year, Starbucks increased their prices from 10 cents to 20 cents. According to Time, "a 12-ounce cup of coffee now costs between $1.95 and $2.15." The price increase comes at a time where the chain is trying to recover from the money lost during their racial bias training. On the other hand, Starbucks really tries to treat their employees well, which is a stark contrast to many local coffee shops that may not be able to offer the same benefits. For example, packages might include bonuses, 401(k) matching, health coverage, and full tuition coverage. I'm sure benefits like this also contribute to the price of drinks.

Social sentiment also indicated that consumers were deterred from Starbucks because they felt that their coffee was burnt, gross, or incredibly sweet. A regular grande caramel frappuccino contains about 66-grams of sugar and a grande iced caramel macchiato has about 34-grams of sugar. A major feature of Starbucks coffee is that the beans are ethically sourced. This may also contribute to price but it shouldn't affect taste. I would say burnt or too sweet coffee is a barista error. However, cheaper alternatives to Starbucks may not participate in ethically sourcing their coffee beans. Therefore, I think this could be a potential factor that Starbucks should continue to highlight.

Lastly, there were a few comments about the menu boards. A typical Starbucks will include the most popular drinks on their menu boards. The thing about Starbucks is that they offer more options than space usually allows. Therefore, many people looking for something different don't necessarily get the full scope of what Starbucks can do. Additionally, some consumers may just leave if they don't see their favorite drinks. If a consumer doesn't see their favorite drink, they may not even bother to ask and just assume that Starbucks doesn't have it. So, this could definitely be something worth looking in to for the chain.

My Recommendations

Starbucks needs a new PR strategy and although I'm not going to draft a huge communications plan here (although I would love to collaborate with the company), I will give some recommendations here. 

Customer Service & Consistency

I think customer service and consistency is the key to a good store and it's something that I think Starbucks can improve on. In fact, I would say that Starbucks should focus on this aspect before anything else. 

There are about 3 or 4 Starbucks stores that I go to. However, my most popular choices are two stores: one near my house and one across town. I'm going to be honest that the one near my house is not consistent at all. Some days they get my drinks right and some days they don't. However, the one way across town always gets my drinks perfect and they have such good service. If it was located closer to me, it would be my primary location.

The thing about customer service and consistency is that it keeps people coming back. I believe Starbucks originally positioned itself as a gourmet coffee chain and it's no secret that they have gourmet prices. So, focusing on customer service and consistency would better justify the prices. Additionally, consistent managerial and employee training is a must to achieve this goal.

Having managers that care about the success of the store will inspire employees even more. For example, the reason why some people may receive burnt coffee is due to the fact that there may be an inexperienced or an apathetic employee working the machine. An employee that doesn't know or doesn't care is not good for business, which is why Starbucks needs strong managers. Once that is done, Starbucks could move forward with a PR strategy that highlights customer service and consistency.  

Innovation

I think Starbucks has become lazy. I remember people saying that Starbucks coffee is gross and that other places are better. My first thought was that I don't go to Starbucks for regular coffee, I go for their fun drinks. I think many people feel the same and I don't think Starbucks needs to compete with other coffee shops in that aspect.

Catchy drinks like the Count Frappula frappuccino or the Unicorn frappuccino are ones that you can't get anywhere else. Their new ultra caramel frappuccino sounds great but ultimately it's a caramel frappuccino with more sugar. People want something fun, different, and exciting. So, Starbucks needs to come up with new creations. 

The pumpkin spice latte is a Fall staple for many consumers, but I think Starbucks needs to venture into new territories this year. What about a maple-cinnamon latte or a cranberry-apple cider latte? There needs to be new flavors that no one has seen before and that most places won't have. Creating a PR strategy that capitalizes on this would be a big win for the coffee chain.

With the innovation of new and exciting flavors comes the innovation of their menu boards. As mentioned earlier in this post, Starbucks needs to look into rolling out a more concise menu board. This may mean downsizing in the amount of options they have. However, this could be a good thing. Fewer drinks mean less training staff on how to make them, which then turns to a focus on improving consistency and customer service.

We live in a world where things need to be simplified. I saw this first hand when I worked in a frozen yogurt shop in high school. When the owner and manager wanted to compete with the top frozen yogurt chains, our unique product got pushed aside for self-serve machines. I think it was then that I saw the downfall of the store. Chasing trends should never be an objective for a business, but a business needs to be able to listen and adapt. Being innovative with not only drinks but the overall presentation of options is something that Starbucks needs to do and increase awareness in.

Instagram Ready

It's no secret that people want places that are Instagram-ready. They want the white landscapes and minimalistic aspect. This is not Starbucks' style, which is okay. Starbucks tries to go for a cozy and warm environment, which I think works well for Fall and Winter. However, I would suggest using social media influencers to position Starbucks in a different light. For example, if we were doing a strategic communications plan where the goal was to increase awareness for Starbucks' summer drinks, utilize influencers who are located near beaches to give off this fun summertime sentiment. If it's a campaign to increase awareness during Fall or Winter, 

Eco-Friendly

I like that Starbucks is trying to become a fully eco-friendly and sustainable brand. So, there is nothing major here that I want to see change. That being said, I think Starbucks needs to better increase awareness on this aspect of their business. For example, when the news about Starbucks making the transition from straws to lids earlier this year blew up, everyone was talking about it. However, I don't remember seeing the same press about their employee benefits or that they ethically source their coffee. Increasing their awareness of this would be a good move for the chain.

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