Who Benefits Most From Starbucks Closure?

like mcdonald's, people are addicted to mediocrity

Can't believe the media picked this one up. Good for Starbucks for pulling off this silly PR stunt! Katie in Chapel Hill, NC

I am curious about the comments, why are the responses from professionals not discussing the merits of Public Relations instead of assigning it the "stunt" stigma.

Clearly this was PR at its best, unpaid media attention that received the attention of the world. The CEO appears to be as powerful as the President of the United States, and more popular too. I would be curious to know if this was a Public Relations Promotion, who initiated it – internal public relations or an external PR Agency? I would also liked to have seen a link to the Press Release.

There is a current debate among PR Professionals about the function and structure of public relations organizations. Many believe that the Public Relations function is an integral part of management where the internal PR VP/Dir coordinates efforts such as this with external agencies and focuses primarily on overall corporate communication. I'd like to know which this was, internal or an external agency? It could all be as simple as a Press Release to announce a management strategy, and not a promotional event, designed to communicate to all of its publics.

Whatever it was, and whoever did it, this was a stellar example of the power of public relations. It was Starbucks most impressive public relations initiative that got all media involved and talking, and a positive brand-building effort instead of the more negative messages coming out in the recent past.

What was missing was a follow-up promotion, perhaps offering free cookies to current, returning, and new consumers? And perhaps the advertising agency should look at this PR event as a creative strategy – Discover the Starbucks Experience Again? I despised the animal cartoons – ditsy, and a poor branding effort, compare it to this PR event. Is Starbucks' CEO back to his 'no advertising mantra?' P.S. I personally don't drink coffee, I opted for the healthier green tea. All those black juices go somewhere, and I noticed it was not in my urn. Now my breath is sweeter, my shirts whiter, and I am happy I made the switch. Does SB do green teas?

The drop in quality (well, at least one of the reasons) is due to the replacement of the old fashioned do-it-yourself espresso machines for the new all I have to do is push a button espresso machine.

When these first rolled out it was thought that it would standardize quality across all stores, however, the machine itself was unable to produce a "quality" espresso shot by Starbucks standards.

A quality shot of espresso takes anywhere from 17-23 seconds. The shorter the time, the sweeter the shot, the longer the time the more bitter. These new machines pulled shots around 15 seconds, making for less strong espresso.

Without reverting to the old fashioned (of my, the Barista's actually have to do something!) machines, the quality will never return to normal.

By the way, an earlier blogger said the beans are burnt. This is incorrect. Yes, Starbucks roasts their beans for longer than the average coffee producer. This does not occur in the grinder, but rather during the roasting process.

If you don't care for "burnt" tasting beans, try one of the many Mild or Organic varieties. Or better yet, go buy it elsewhere...there are other options.

. Getting a cup of coffee at Starbucks only offers me to see how the expresso is made and how the ingredients are mixed.

Should I dedicate a few minutes every day and pay premium price to witness Starbucks routine?

I don't think so!

And rude baristas according to some of the comments below, I think that may depend on where you live. In Scottsdale, you can't find a rude one if you try!

I say good for Starbucks for trying to improve their product and "keeping it real" as Randy Jackson would say.

I agree it was a PR/media stunt. And it may have even been some intense brand reinforcement to show consumers that "hey it does taste better on Wed a.m.!" or to make drinkers remember that absence makes the caffine addiction grow fonder.

But I will be interested when some anon barista posts what went on during the training. As another poster commented, these employees have been so systemized that surely they know how the machines work. I would hope that some time during the great 2008 blackout (or cream&sugar-out) was spent on customer relationship training.

Just yesterday, two of my collegues had a discussion of SBUX baristas arguing with them about how they wanted their over priced cuppajoe

BTW -- I'm a Power 150 blogger (Shotgun Marketing) who has fallen from grace. (started at #49 - currently hovering around #200). Look further down the list for bloggers who aren't trying to game the ranking systems or who weren't already a-listers and you'll find some non facebook-twitter-blog talk and actually find marketing commentary!

But will it make the coffee taste good? No. They lost that game to Peet's a long time ago. And they moved farther from good when they went to automatic espresso machines.

Schultz is on the right track, but they're only halfway there. The long and short of the super-secret meeting was that we are going to be de-emphasizing the "get in/pay/get drink/get out" flow and concentrate more on quality and customer interaction. If you're late for that meeting and you're at a busy Starbucks, you might be frustrated with the wait. The "training" sessions were a complete joke - nothing I haven't heard before, but the sad truth was that about half of the employees at my store were learning something new. Almost everyone is a college student like me, just like at most other Starbucks, and I really attribute this to their drop in quality. I'm sure you can guess that most college kids don't give two sh*ts about your lives or your problem, and most don't give a damn about how good your latte is. Obviously it's different everywhere you go, but the adults at the stores are always the best employees, and the ones that we (students) hate working with the most.

The thing is, nothing is really changing. We're not getting the old machines back - the espresso shots will still be sub-par. The sandwiches will be gone, but the ovens will still be running, and it still won't smell as good as is once did. Wi-Fi is still not free. I'm sure Schultz is aware of these things, but the amount of money required to re-replace all the machines and everything AGAIN is massive. I don't really know what's going to happen.

"Ha ha" to "Christine" whining about how the employee on break wouldn't come help with a line. Given that you're from New Canaan, I'm going to assume that like the rest of your area, you believe that the world revolves around yourself. I'm sure you didn't consider that barista had probably been dealing with a line of the same length for the entire shift, but I guess that line wasn't as important, because YOU weren't in it, right? Please. 10-minute breaks are mandatory about every 2 hours, whether there's 1 person in line or 100. If you'd ever worked in retail or service I'm sure you'd appreciate that break in the avalanche of customers.

Regarding their "marketing stunt" I think that Starbucks aficianados will pay it no mind and will be lined up before work tomorrow morning waiting for their double skinny caramel latte. I agree with Shashi on one thing, I applaud Dunkin' Donuts for jumping on the bandwagon so quickly.

Probably most of the "baristas" at this coffee conglomerate, are not really that invested in their brand. For most I'm guessing it's just another job schmob. They will probably put in their 3.5 and let the "training" go in one ear and out the other.

Starbucks, good luck with the stunt...

There is no doubt that the Starbucks closures were a PR stunt... and one that was brilliantly pulled off as proven by the number of news outlets that ran with the story as well as the number of respondents to this story.

The simple fact is that Starbucks isn't just about coffee, it's a destination. And with destination marketing, you need press.

Sure, some people will bitch and moan about the stores but if you look to the average drinker, they are sold. My own parents, in their 70s now, are from the old era of stewed coffee and yet they still enjoy visiting Starbucks from time to time. These are people who at one time would have railed against paying such exorbitant prices for a simple cup-a-joe.

Maybe Starbucks lost its way a bit when branching out into various non-coffee products, but people still see it as 'a place to go for a good cup of coffee.' The latest PR stunt will only help to remind them of that the next time they are trying to decide what to do kill a little time or where to go when meeting some friends.