Consumer Passion

New Starbucks Seattle Cafe Celebrates the Coffeehouse But Shuns the Brand. Wise Move or Foolish Masquerade?

As a coffee lover and admitted coffee snob, I've followed the trials, successes and tribulations of Starbucks for many a year, both from the inside as a patron, and the outside as a curious follower of brand trends.  As an NPR article notes (Starbucks Shuns Name At New Cafe), the Seattle based coffee behemoth recently opened a "new kind of store" in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood that gives nary a hint of its ownership, save for the beans used to make the coffee.

Note the missing and iconic Starbucks logo out front.  In it's place, a sign stating "15th AVE COFFEE & TEA".  From the article:

For more than three decades Starbucks has been building a brand, spreading its name around the globe.  Now the company is setting aside that corporate image as it tries to create a store with the vibe of an independent neighborhood cafe.

"We'll be handcrafting beverages, using French presses and traditional espresso machines," says D. Major Cohen, the cafe's project manager.

Customers can grab and go, or sit in this spare and sophisticated space that looks and feels more like a wine bar than a coffee shop. And the menu is also different, including wine and beer along with cheese platters and other fare. 

The new concept is a "re-imagination" of Starbucks, Cohen says.

This is an intriguing move by Starbucks, born out of CEO Howard Schultz's proclamation back in January, 2008 that the company he started needed to "return to its roots" (see ConsumerPassion post: Starbucks Announces Return to its Roots).  The question that begs asking:  does Starbucks need to ditch its name and all hit of its brand to pull off that much needed return?  My answer is no. I think you can bring back the neighborhood coffeehouse essence without masquerading as a mom and pop neighborhood cafe.  What's your opinion? 

How Far Would You Go To Protect Your Butterfinger Bar?

Butterfinger recently unwrapped details of a user-generated video competition called "Nobody's Gonna Lay A Finger On My Butterfinger".    Butterfinger says it's searching for "an irreverently-clever, commercial creator".  And that directorial talent-in-the-rough will have the opportunity to see his or her video air as a national 15-second commercial. 

"We know that no one can express the one-of-a-kind Butterfinger experience better than a real-world fan," said spokesperson Tricia Bowles of Nestle USA Confections & Snacks, "and since our biggest fans are also avid social media users, we're hoping to find 'a vlogger with a vision' to potentially become the next commercial video sensation."

The skinny:  contestants can submit a video at www.protectmybutterfinger.com (up to a minute in length) in one of the following four categories: 1) Best Use of a Gadget; 2) Epic Fail; 3) Sweetest Kung Fu Moves; and 4) Workplace Shenanigans.  Amongst other requirements, each video must incorporate a Butterfinger bar, showing how far one would go to protect their Butterfinger, and must include the tagline: "Nobody's Gonna Lay A Finger On My Butterfinger."

One grand-prize winner will receive $25,000, and have their video featured in a 15-second TV commercial, as well as online on the Butterfinger Comedy Network, the Butterfinger Facebook page (Facbook.com/Butterfinger), and www.ProtectYourButterfingerBar.com. The grand-prize winner also receives a one-year supply of Butterfinger candy bars.  Additionally, three first prize winners each will receive a $1,000 check and a one-year supply of Butterfingers.

In an interesting marketing/social media/passionate consumer twist, Butterfinger is tapping the creative talents of four 'FUNterns' (picked from a nationwide summer job search pool).  These social media savvy brand ambassadors will, according to Butterfinger, "tweet, text, vlog, blip, flickr, digg, and then some" about the video contest and their summer adventures hanging with the Butterfinger bunch. Why didn't they have summer jobs like that when I was a teen?  

Capitol Hill Goes to the Dogs: National Hot Dog Day 2009

   

We Americans are passionate about our hot dogs (mustard and relish please, hold the ketchup), and July is the month we celebrate this tasty backyard tradition.  July is National Hot Dog Month - designated so back in 1957 by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - with two notable days:  the hot dog eating contest at Nathan's Famous on July 4th, won for a third consecutive time by American (yes!) Joey Chestnut, who consumed an unfathomable 68 weiners (with buns) in ten minutes;  and National Hot Dog Day, which takes place on the third wednesday in July, marked by the annual Hot Dog Lunch on Capitol Hill.  That happened to be yesterday, July 22nd, and NOT July 19th, which hundreds of people on Twitter were ignorantly celebrating as the big day.  Sometimes you have to dig a little.  For whatever reason, National Hot Dog Day does not draw a lot of attention, so I went to the source to confirm the festivities:  the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (thanks Tom!). 

This year's Hot Dog Lunch, an invitation-only event for members of Congress and their staffs, was held at the Rayburn House Office Building, drawing some 1,000 people, including members of the House and Senate, Hill staffers, industry officials, media, and in a nod to the relationship hot dogs and the great American pastime have, baseball greats Phil Niekro, Vince Coleman and Jack Morris.

From the American Meat Institue press release: 

The Annual Hot Dog Lunch, which was hosted by Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK), remains one of the most popular events of the summer on Capitol Hill.  

“There are few icons more recognized in U.S. culture than the hot dog,” said AMI President and CEO J. Patrick Boyle.  “Year after year, this social event on Capitol Hill, which is one of the most popular of the summer, is a testament to the continuing national – and bipartisan – popularity of hot dogs.” 

In coordination with Hot Dog Lunch and National Hot Dog Month, the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council unveiled a new, interactive map on its Web site, Hot-dog.org, eaturing hundreds of hot dog restaurants across the country.

“Members of Congress represent constituents throughout the country, but as you will see from the map, the hot dog is pretty well represented, too,” said Council President and Queen of Wien, Janet Riley.  “Whether you are visiting a particular region and want to find the hometown dog or want to send the link of your favorite restaurant to a friend, you can find it on our new map.  And if you don’t see your favorite place to get a hot dog, let us know and we’ll be sure to add it!” 

 

 

Chipotle Returns The Love, Will Pay $10,000 For Best User-Generated Ad

Chipotle, that wonderful purveor of ginormous, super delicious burritos, announced recently that it'll pay one winner $10,000 for their ad submission ... and may put the winner’s favorite food combination on its menu as part of its “My Chipotle” advertising campaign.  The Mexican grill chain launched the user-generated campaign in May, without the lure of a ten grand prize. 

“When we launched the My Chipotle campaign, our intention was to harness the power of our most loyal fans and to empower them as messengers for Chipotle,” said Mark Crumpacker, chief marketing officer of Chipotle.  “While we have received hundreds of submissions and registered thousands of users at the My Chipotle website, we wanted our customers to know how much we appreciate their contributions to the campaign by giving them an opportunity to be rewarded for their best submissions.”

I'm always on the prowl for a better way to explain what ConsumerPassion is all about, and Crumpacker hit my nail on the head when he said their intention was to "harness the power of our most loyal fans and to empower them as messengers for Chipotle".  Amen.  There's no better way to ignite your marketing than to empower your customers by super serving them and exceeding their expectations.

From the press release:  

Winners will be determined by a panel of Chipotle marketing staff and the company’s advertising agency based on how well they discuss Chipotle menu items while remaining consistent with the company’s values and image.  Chipotle will announce winners August 26.

The first prize winner will receive $10,000 and may have their burrito added to the Chipotle menu for a limited time.  Second prize is $5,000 and a party at a local Chipotle restaurant for 50 people, and third prize will be burritos for a year (amounting to one burrito a week for a year).  Additional prizes will also be awarded. To be eligible for the contest, entries must be submitted via mychipotle.com by August 14.  Any spots submitted to mychipotle.com could be used in the company’s ongoing advertising.

Find a Domino's 'GreenGraffiti' Ad, Win Free Pizza

Have to hand it to the major pizza chains, they never lack for new marketing ideas.  Domino's, a leader in embracing digital communication technology, is adding a brick and mortar, guerilla-style street campaign.  And when I say street, I mean it literally. 

You might've seen the new Domino's TV spots promoting its 'Legends' speciality pizzas (great ads, by the way).  To help promote these new pies, Domino's has "strategically blasted", using high-pressure water sprayers, 220 logos onto sidewalks in three 'legendary' U.S. cities:  Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York. 

The promotion, which began July 9th, offers $15  gift cards to the first 250 people to email pr@dominos.com and submit a photo of them with a GreenGraffiti sidewalk Domino's logo.  From the press release:

"This is different because GreenGraffiti cleans part of the sidewalk and leaves ads behind," said Tim McIntyre, spokesperson for Domino's Pizza.  "At first glance, it appears that something's been painted onto the sidewalks.  In reality, we're just removing dirt and leaving ads behind.  Domino's is one of the first companies to use GreenGraffiti in the U.S. and has added the unique twist of an old-fashioned scavenger hunt for our consumers to have a little fun."

The skinny:  Individuals with qualifying photos can submit their photos and mailing addresses to pr@dominos.com for a chance to win. Domino's will post contest winners' photos on www.flickr.com.  No purchase required to enter or win.  Submitting a photo to pr@dominos.com gives Domino's the rights and permission to use photos for internal/external purposes.  Contest is open to legal U.S. residents age 13 or older.  Void where prohibited.  The contest began July 9, 2009 at 12:01 p.m. ET  and will end on the earlier of July 17, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. ET or the time when 250 winners are confirmed.  Each winner will receive their $15 Domino's Pizza gift card in the mail.

Borders and Waldenbooks to Host 'SpongeBob Day of Happiness' Kids Party July 18th

From the press release:

In celebration of the SpongeBob SquarePants' 10th Anniversary, Borders and Waldenbooks stores nationwide will host a "SpongeBob Day of Happiness" kids event July 18 beginning at 2 p.m. Kids of all ages won't want to miss this opportunity to enjoy an afternoon of free fun in honor of the quirky yellow sea sponge, his zany sidekicks Patrick and Squidward and all of the inhabitants of Bikini Bottom.In addition to enjoying a variety of entertaining activities, fans can also look forward to receiving fun prizes and giveaways including ponchos, magnets, temporary tattoos and balloons. (Prizes and giveaways will vary by store.)

To find out if your local Borders or Waldenbooks store is hosting a "SpongeBob Day of Happiness" party, click the Store Locator tab on Borders.com and search for your favorite store, and then click on the store's page to view a list of upcoming events. Events may vary from store to store.

Interesting facts about Mr. Squarepants (via Wikipedia):

• In 2007, Time Magazine name it one of the greatest television shows of all time

• SpongeBob is one in a long line of cartoons designed to appeal to adults as well as children.  Certain innuendos, in particular, are intended to go over younger viewers' heads.  For example, SpongeBob tried to show his grandma that he was a mature adult by wearing sideburns and a derby, and listening to free form jazz. 

Operation Rainbows

Please help spread the word about a very special effort focusing on those serving our country, wounded warriors and their families, and families who've lost a loved one (police, fire, military) in the line of duty.

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Last Call for Coca-Cola Brand Fan Contest Entries

My contest (hosted by Brick and Click Consulting) is winding down, and today's the day to put aside a few minutes, put your creative cap on and come up with a brand idea, slogan, jingle, poem ... just about anything related to Coca-Cola or one of its products you can dream of.  Simply register at OceanOfIdeas.com, look for the confirmation e-mail, click the link, then submit your entry.  You can add a picture, document or video link, or make it very simple and do a 'roses are red' type poem (I did a sample one).  It's all about a little fun in your week and some creative 'consumer generated idea generation'.  It's also a geat opportunity to showcase your talents.  You never know who might be taking a peek, like the folks at Coke headquarters in Atlanta (you need to visit their blog, a nostalgic trip down memory lane each day, chock full of Americana: Coca-Cola Conversations).

Check a previous post for details on the prizes I'm offering.  Grand Prize winner gets some great Coke gear, months worth of carbonated beverages, and a Webforce Open Innovation platform license (the platform the contest is on), worth about $6,000.  Six grand.  Your own consumer generated idea platform to play with or integrate into your business as you choose. Two runners up will receive some cool gear, beverages and a Premium Open Innovation Challenge on Fellowforce.com's global crowdsourcing platform (value $495). 

If a minimum number of entries is not reached (details at OceanOfIdeas.com), the contest may be extended one more week.  Voting will extend several days beyond the deadline for contest submissions.  You're encouraged to spread the word about this (and your entry!) to your social networks and friends and family.  Folks can register and vote even if they don't have an entry submission.  Thanks for playing along with my Social Media/Open Innovation contest ... it's a small way for me to share some of the wonderful experience I enjoyed in Atlanta recently as the winner of Coke's 'Experiencing Coca-Cola Sweepstakes'.  You don't have to love Coke as much as I do to enter the contest.  But hey, why not enter the Coke contest and a have a asmile today :-)

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Black Friday Underway: Amazon.com 'Customers Vote' Lets Consumers Battle and Decide Most Ridiculous Deals of the Season

It's in the wee hours of Friday morning ... Black Friday 2008 ... the day retailers kick off a slew of outrageous deals to tempt offline and online shoppers to part with their dwindling dollars.  This Thanksgiving weekend will be a closely watched and dissected canary in the economy coal mine, an early glimpse into what could be a sluggish shopping season.

One of my favorite retail events is Amazon's Customers Vote.   It works like this:

• Amazon places three products against each other in six voting rounds: Go Blu-, Go Play, Go High-Def, Go Mobile, Go Your Way, and Go Crazy. Customers vote for the deal they want in each of six rounds. Whichever deal gets the most votes will be offered at the steepest savings (or winning price). The other two items will be offered at slightly lower savings (or runner-up price) but will still be sweet deals.  Then a limited number of customers are selected at random to participate in the buying round,  where they race to buy deals for that round.   

This year's potential winning deals include a Samsung 46-Inch 1080p HDTV for $699, an ASUS Eee PC 900 Netbook for $129 and a KitchenAid Professional Stand Mixer for $69.  For complete details, go to the Customers Vote page and check the FAQ.  It looks like the biggest difference between this year's consumer generated 'sweet deals' event and last years is that this year it's a race.  Amazon will invite more customers to participate in the buying round than they have available deals.  So get your competitive juices flowing if you're on the hunt for a too-good-to-be-believed deal. 

Amazon has a central Black Friday page with a Gold Box featuring hourly deals and limited time specials on thousands of items.  A quick look shows popular products offered at discounts ranging from 30-60%. 

I'll be keeping track of Black Friday numbers for brick and mortar and online retailers, and monitoring Cyber Monday sales as well.  Cyber Monday, coined in 2005 by the Naional Retail Federation, is normally the biggest shopping day for online retailers. 

Coca-Cola Brand Fan Consumer Contest Update (more prizes!)

A quick update on my Coca-Cola Brand Fan Contest, being held at OceanOfIdeas.com (the other URL I originally gave, TwitFizz.com, works as well).  Due to the unexpected arrival of a new goodie package from a friend at Coca-Cola, and the fact I had some server issues over the weekend, the contest is being extended one week, until Wednesday December 5th.  I also want to 'get the word out' (your help in that is EXTREMELY APPRECIATED) and give everyone enough time to cook up up a creative entry, since it's your chance to impress the community and some folks at Coke with your sparkly genius.  This is not an official Coke contest.  It's hosted by me (Brick and Click Consulting's Jeff Crites).  But my three days in Atlanta - courtesy of Coke and my Experiencing Coca-Cola Sweepstakes win - introduced me to a fantastic and friendly group of folks who work at Coke HQ.  Some of them operate the Coca-Cola Conversations blog (you're highly encouraged to add it to your daily reading).  All of them are now considered friends (they treated us like family), and I know they're taking a peek at this contest ... and I'm also asking several of them to vote for their favorite entry. 

The Grand Prize winner gets:  a Coke Canvass bag (declared the 'coolest bag ever' by my wife), Coke red scarf, Coke red winter cap, Coke journal, Coke bottle from their Veterans Day celebration at Coke HQ, Coke Mardi Gras beads and six cases of Coca-Cola carbonated products.  Plus:  a Free Webforce 2.1 Consumer Co-Creation & Feedback Engine  license from Fellowforce.com (it's the platform the contest is being hosted on), worth $5,000 Euro or about $6,200 USD. 

The Webforce application can be loaded on a hosting service of your choice at no cost - something like Meta Fusion is recommended (you're responsible for the hosting service & fees).  Integrating Webforce into a company's existing IT/server infrastructure may require a 'load fee'.  My goal is to keep this all at 'zero cost' to any winner. 

First Runner up (2nd prize) gets a long sleeve Coke T-shirt, collapsable Coke six-pack cooler and four cases of Coca-Cola carbonated beverages (coupons for the beverages).

Second Runner up (3rd prize) gets a cool 'sling-style' sports backpack (with padded laptop sleeve) and four cases of Coca-Cola carbonated beverages. 

PLUS:  Both runners-up receive a Premium Open Innovation Challenge on the Fellowforce.com global Challenge Board (value $495).  Posting an Open Innovation Challenge is a great way to reach a global pool of consumers for innovative ideas and solutions.  You can use this to solicit ideas for just about anything ... and it's a great marketing tool as well.

All you need to do is go to OceanOfIdeas.com, Register (very quick, just name, username, age, e-mail), dream up a creative slogan, poem, jingle, brand or marketing idea relating to Coca-Cola or one of its many products, and enter (follow directions at the site).  You can spend fifteen minutes or as much time as you want on this.  Remember to ask your friends and network to enter and vote as well.  If people don't want to submit an entry, they can register and vote for their favorite (yours?). 

I wanted to do something that would share a bit of my experience at Coca-Cola with everyone, and tap the viral and empowering nature of social media and Open Innovation.  You may not be obsessed with Coca-Cola as much as I am, but enter this contest and show your 'brand creativity'.  In addition to a chance at some great prizes, you'll have an opportunity to showcase your 'personal brand/expertise' for all to see.  Good luck!  

One Crowdsourcing Plan to Rule Them All

I decided today to launch an ambitous Crowdsourcing effort, and I need your help to make it happen.  It'll benefit just about anyone: Prosumers (producing consumers), creative freelancers, stay-at-home moms and dads, idea generators -anyone looking for opportunity and work.  It'll also benefit any business small to large interested in a non-traditional, dynamic way to tap a variety of innovative ideas from  people from around the world.  The platform would enable extremely affordable, impactful business solutions, and offer talented people opportunities to earn money and build/showcase their personal brand.  I'll use three main tools: 

1)  A Global Crowdsourcing Platform - I have the keys to Fellowforce.com, an Open Innovation platform and portal.  Fellowforce has an Open Innovation/Crowdsourcing Challenge Board where businesses post challenge contests to ask for solutions and ideas.  All the platform needs is a growing, vibrant and passionate consumer community ... and a Challenge Board offering a variety of fresh, interesting opportunities.  The Challenge Board has a legal framework and community forum/voting/reward system.  When a challenge is posted, an e-mail is sent to the global Fellow Community - people looking for the opportunity to put their ideas to work.  To become a Fellow, all it takes is s simple registration and quick profile creation to let us know the type of challenges that would interest you, along with your areas of expertise and passion.  Fellows can choose to enter Challenges and compete for cash and other rewards.  Challenges can be Fellowforce-hosted, or hosted elsewhere and linked on the Fellowforce Board so you don't have to search for opportunities.  We find them and bring them to your attention.  

2)  Twitter - there's nothing like the viral connectiveness of Twitter.  I remember hearing about a group on Twitter half joking about joining forces to create a Twitter Agency to compete for a large advertising account.  Laurel Papworth, aka @Silkcharm on Twitter, 'tweeted' this idea and wrote a post called Twitter Agency:  Crowd-sourced Consultancy.

I thought after reading her blog post ... what if I could use Twitter as a massive, all-encompassing crowdsourcing platform?  Not just for ad agency pitches ... but for anything.  However it wasn't until today, on that brisk dog walk, that the idea gelled.  I didn't need to build a new platform.  I already had access to one (Fellowforce).  What I needed to do was explain the benefits of Open Innovaton and Crowdsourcing to my Twitter friends, ignite interest in the existing platform, then combine the two (Twitter & Fellowforce) to communicate about opportunities for consumers and businesses to connect.  There are several benefits in taking part in this effort and telling others to join it as well:

• the bigger and more vibrant the crowdsourcing community and platform, the more attractive it  will be in attracting money-making and personal brand building opportunities
• There isn't a truly global crowdsourcing platform that caters to SME (small/medium businesses) and the broadest possible pro-sumer crowd.  Innocentive is the best known crowdsourcing platform, with a massive community of 'solvers' (160,000), but it's expensive, aimed at Fortune 500 companies, and it's community consists mostly of scientists, engineers and researchers.  With Fellowforce, a business can pay as little as $49 (the current rate to post a self-serve Challenge) to $495 for a Premium (expertly guided) Challenge.  The goal is to make it attractive for businesses small to large worldwide, and offer numerous opportunities to a wide range of talented people. 
• Twitter is growing more popular every day, and it empowers and gives voice to individuals in a uniquely powerful way.  When Twitter users like something (or dislike something, as in the case of Twitter Moms and a Motrin ad campaign), word travels fast, and can attract attention on a large scale and in a short period of time.  There are plenty of people on Twitter itching for the chance to showcase their talents and ideas.  When you help make this effort a success, you're helping create opportunities that could be benefit you and thousands more in the community.
• There's an opportunity at Fellowforce to be a Sales Partner.  The more attention you bring to this, the more opportunity you have to attract business and earn a piece of the pie.

I believe that if this catches on ... if people 'retweet' this post and get excited about creating a global crowdsourcing powerhouse ... energized about the potential that we have to be problem solvers and creative idea generators .. then we can build a community with tens of thousands of people in a short period of time - a community that will attract businesses and create opportunities.   

3)  Blog - the third leg of this project is a blog acting as a central communication point.  Right now, it's Consumer Passion.  I'm considering a new blog specifically for this project, and have a couple of names under consideration.  I'm also using #hashtags in all of my Tweets that relate to crowdsourcing, open innovation and this effort, to enable effective search and tracking.  Right now, I'm using the hashtag #TwitForce on Twitter (conbines Twitter & Fellowforce), and when you enter that hashtag in the search field on Twitter, you can quickly locate any conversations about this, anyone else Tweeting about it, crowdsourcing opportunities and ideas and so on.  I'm also considering the name #TwitSourcing - a play on crowdsourcing and Twitter. 

This is the idea in a nutshell.  I'm open to any thoughts and suggestions.  Leave your opinion about the #name in the comments section.  Any suggestions you have about this Twitter + Fellowforce plan to rule the crowdsourcing world, leave them in my Suggestion Box, which enables and manages transparent feedback.  If you're interested in posting a Crowdsource Challenge on the Fellowforce platform, or would like to know more about Suggestion Box as well (I'm affiliated with both), contact me at jeff@brickandclick.com.  And don't forget about my Coca-Cola Brand Fan Contest at TwitFizz.com.  Come up with a creative jingle, slogan, poem or brand idea, toss it into the ring, and you might win cool Coke gear, products and a $6,000 Fellowforce Webforce Consumer Co-creation & Feedback Application license (the platform the contest is using). 

Cheers!

Jeff Crites (Brick and Click Consulting)   

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Have you read Jeff Howe's book? (he coined term crowdsourcing):

Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business

Picture at top of post courtesy of this Flickr account