Social Media Monitoring Presentation: Part 1

When Ice Cream Met Coffee: The Starbucks Affogato Menu

The Product

Founded in Seattle, Washington in 1971 the Starbucks we have come to know today has found its niche as an upper-class coffee chain, most recognized for a European café vibe and its artisanal bold specialty brews. With 23,768 establishments world-wide, the chain has been a consistent front-runner in the industry. So, what if I told you that the third-most admired company in the world  is going to show its American stores just how sweet it can be? 

**Barista slowly pours espresso over small-batch ice cream drenched in caramel**

This is going to be good.

In the need for a sweet treat that also happens to deliver the energy-packed punch of espresso? Well the Seattle-based, coffeehouse is preparing the ultimate answer to that craving: an entire menu bursting with various ice cream and esspresse Affogato inspired treats.

What is the Italian desert Affogato, exactly? Well sit back, relax, and prepare to drool:



Starbucks Traditional Affogato

Starved for more? In addition to this beauty, the menu contains 2 other main items (priced from $6.00 to $8.50) to sip (or chug) on.

The Cold Brew Float and (drum roll please) the Cold Brew Malted Milkshake:





Initially unveiled at their flagship Seattle Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room in June 2016, the success of the Affogato has caused the coffee giant to test the hybrid beverage on a larger scale. First, starting February 15th, the company brought the Affogato Menu to 10 other Reserve locations in Los Angeles, Boston, NYC, and Washington D.C. Then, in the following next couple months, the coffee giant is bringing the menu to 100 other traditional Starbucks locations around Orange County California.

Okay, so introducing an ice cream beverage as a coffee retailer is a big play, right? How exactly is Starbucks drumming up excitement for their new roll-out? Well, have you ever seen a Starbucks billboard? Newspaper add? Commercial? More than not the answer will be "no, not in a while". Why? Well, Starbucks is notorious for ditching traditional marketing techniques for their use of viral marketing and their focus on word-of-mouth brand marketing. That's right, Starbucks is a HUGE proponent of engaging with, and listening to, the groundswell--thusly letting their customers peddle their products for them. Their social media imprint is clear (early 2015):

Keeping a heavy presence on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook has allowed the company to continually cultivate relationships, purify customer experiences, and promote brand loyalty for their products. Want to know why a marketing  strategy so heavily focused on social media has been effective for the company? Well, the answer to that is in defining the company's target market. The majority of the customer base for Starbucks comes from two main groups, both very active on social media:

1. Men and women ages 25 to 40- 49% (with a 3% growth yearly)
2. Men and women ages 18 to 24 - 40% (with 4.6% growth yearly)

Furthermore, both groups are largely characterized by being white collar urbanites and belonging to the middle or upper class. Not surprising, since their products do carry a heavier price tag in comparison to their competitors:

So, knowing the target consumer base, how is the company's social media marketing strategy working for the expanded release of the Affogato Menu? Let's look at the two platforms of Facebook and Twitter.

Twitter

In analyzing how Starbucks has plugged the Affogato Menu, it is clear that Starbucks has followed its classic word-of mouth strategy in their viral marketing. As stated earlier, the Affogato Menu was initially released in the summer of 2016. For that initial release, the company utilized Twitter as a platform to drum-up excitement, posting many videos, pictures, and encouraging comments from followers:



First of all, the warm candor is extremely noticeable, as is the excitement. Additionally, did you notice that the examples didn't seem to have that many likes and retweets? Isn't this bad? Doesn't the amount of retweets equate to how the post is perceived or its reach? Not necessarily...  it was clear that the company was banking on sheer volume of their posts (coupled with their large following base) to expand the reach and of their campaign and fire power of their product.

Okay, so let's fast-forward to how Starbucks has addressed the February expanded release of the Affogato Menu. They kept producing videos and staged pictures of the products right? Wrong. This is the part where the company stepped back and let word-of-mouth take the reins on the viral platform.

The company did have groups tweeting about their excitement for the menu, but it was clear that the energy seen initially had not totally carried over. Furthermore, the tweets were mainly from media outlets and Twitter groups-- not the average Joe. The company itself, known for their volume and consistency of posts, also seemed mysteriously quiet. Why? Starbucks usually uses social media to set their product for take-off. Just scrolling through their feed you can usually feel the energy of the groundswell. It is this energy that also promotes a type of trust with the company's products that only word of mouth can create. I mean of course a company will say their product is the best, but when real people do it... well now we are listening.

Yet, this wasn't happening. Had someone dropped the ball or is this all part of a bigger scheme? This is a limited expanded release of the Affogato Menu-a test so to speak So, even though the Affogato had initially succeeded in the high-end flagship store, the company may be trying to get a feel for how their more average customer will react prior to full-throttle plugging. Or, they may also be trying in vain to let their customers do their promotion, and since the release started on February 15th-- Starbucks could just be waiting for the swell to start once the product takes hold.

Hmm... Let's see how the campaign went on Facebook, and then look at the campaigns impact using some analytical tools. 

Facebook 

Searching for responses to their past and current Affogato roll-out proved to yield much different results from Twitter. First of all, like Twitter, there were a lot of posts from the company concerning the summer roll-out, like the one below:

This post was very similar to the host of Facebook posts announcing the initial Affogato Menu--- the numbers for comments, likes, sharing, were dynamite. Now, in cutting back to present day, Facebook clearly out-shown Twitter on the coverage coming from both constituents and media outlets. Not only was the volume of responses back, but the energy and positivity was back as well.

Although most posts were mainly from the day before or of the release, the posts have continued to this day. Yet again, while the likes, shares, and comments aren't as high--the volume of posts were. As depicted, Starbucks itself did not need to do any work in directly engaging with the customers--the groundswell did all the plugging. Just reading the posts, again the excitement over the beverage is loud and clear.

Did Starbucks have its hand in influencing the posts from the larger media outlets (like People Magazine and Fox News)? We may never know, and it doesn't even matter. What matters is that the groundswell is actively reacting with overwhelming positivity. 

Now that we have looked at Facebook and twitter, let's look at the imprint of the campaign using some analytical tools.

Let's Get Analytical

Social Mention

First, let's take a look at Social Mention. Below, are screenshots from Wednesday 2/8, Friday 2/17, and Monday 2/20.

   Wednesday:                                                                                 Friday:

                                                         

                           

    Monday:                                                     

What We See:

 First of all, the strength of the product is going down at a startling rate. This could mean that the role-out has been lack-luster, or since the role-out was 2/15/17, it could also mean that consumers have not had a chance to become hooked yet. Also, unlike, say technology, the food industry may not get immediate and vast attention from new products-- the craze factor may not be as applicable as, say a new iPhone.

Sentiment is also lackluster, with neutral feelings toward the product hugely outweighing both positive and negative feelings. Could this again tie into the newness of the product?

It is also interesting that while passion is low, reach is high. So, while the product is getting coverage, there isn't an "obsessed" mentality. Again, this could certainly be related to the fact that this is a food product (a higher-end food product). Are people apt to go wild over a beverage like they would over a new piece of technology? 

Can food and beverage companies really generate that much excitement? I mean, I    can see posting about a beverage once.  But how many times can you post about a drink?

Lastly, we should not forget that the product has come out in the winter to places like Boston, NYC, and Washington D.C. The cold weather could have also had an impact on the performance of a menu that is based off of a traditional summer treat.

Google Trends

Snapshots taken on February 18th.

Interest over 1 year. This graph shows that there was a huge spike in July and the summer months, dropping down in the fall. Then another spike in February. The graph ends on February 18th 2017, do you think the interest will hold or be short lived?

Below, we first see interest over the past 12 months compared with interest in the past 30 days.

   

















                                

Since the roll-out is occurring in California (100 Cali. locations will carry the menu) it is no wonder why that state is in the lead. New York will also see the product, but D.C., and MA aren't listed.Texas, and Florida are perhaps registering since they are warmer areas. However, Illinois is an anomaly. It leaves one to wonder if Starbucks should have skipped MA and D.C. in exchange for one of the states listed...

Meltwater Icerocket

Snapshots taken February 20th

Representing blog coverage, the graph and statistics below show two main things.

The first is that the blogosphere's coverage of the drink was extremely minimal. The low numbers are a bit surprising because Starbucks is a HUGE company, so you would have thought that coverage would have at least reached double digits. However, we have to remember that this is a limited release- a very small number of Starbucks are receiving the menu. So, it is most likely not on everyone's radar, or, blogs may have chosen not to cover it if their neighborhood Starbucks wasn't receiving the menu.

Secondly, the peak we saw on Google Trends in February also occurred on the blogosphere. However, this time it was short lived, dove down, and then began to increase again. The first spike could be a nod to the initial excitement over the release, and then the second to the covering/review of the product itself.

The Last Sip

Okay, so how has this campaign played out? Let's breakdown the positives and negatives of the campaign.

The positives:

1.  Starbucks stayed true to the power of the groundswell in primarily utilizing viral marketing.
2.  The company produced tons of viral videos and clips for the initial campaign that were then re-used mostly on Facebook for the current release of the Affogato Menu. The videos even still felt fresh.

3.    The coverage and excitement of larger media outlets (From People Magazine to bloggers like Perez Hilton) was a great component.

4.    The company also clearly understood that a customer's comments outweigh a company's streamlined posts.  

The negatives:

1.    Starbucks may have been too quiet on social media (*cough* Twitter) for the recent release. If they had published more posts, pictures, and videos they would have given the groundswell a stronger second wind and would have still been able to maintain the word-of-mouth marketing stance.

2.     Starbucks should have engaged more with customers for the second release on Facebook and Twitter. Generating a conversation could have also increased the groundswell energy.

Given that this product is certainly seen to be on the exclusive side, it will be most interesting to see how the success carries over to the average Starbucks. What do you think? Will the Affogato Menu successfully make the transition?