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« Wanna buy my Nissan? You're too wimpy... | Main | Best and Worst Brand Names of 2008 » Starbucks Coffee: No Longer Their Only Over-Caffeinated ProductPosted by Jason Swartz on January 12, 2009 at January 12, 2009 2:02 PMYou know economic times are tough when Starbucks, the same company that charges up to $5.00 for a cup of slightly above average coffee, now charges their customers an additional $3.99 for in-store Wi-Fi access - at least those customers who don't have a Starbucks Rewards card. I feel like this is the beginning of a great social media frenzy, one that I'm anxious to watch play itself out. I was just on Facebook, and noticed a friend's status that read: "Starbucks made their biggest mistake charging for wireless. Lost me as a regular, because I now do all client & friend meetings at Panera." This intrigued me. As far as I knew, Wi-Fi at Starbucks was always free. But according to their Web site, complimentary Wi-Fi is available only when you "register your Starbucks Card and use it at least once a month." So, not only do you have to use your card at least once per month, you also need to go online and register it by creating a Starbucks.com account, which involves the following process: 1.) Create a user name and password
Now, back to my friend's Facebook status. Note the last part about how they plan to host all their future meetings with friends and clients at Panera. Surely, Panera's process of gaining free Wi-Fi access is similar to Starbucks, right? I'll let you decide. Here's how Panera describes the process of getting free Wi-Fi in their store: "Yep, it's free. Just sit down, open up your laptop and you're ready to go. Send an email as you munch a warm bagel. Read the news as you sip a latte. It's a nice alternative to the office, isn't it? Please relax, do what you need to do, and enjoy our Wi-Fi. It's free all day long." Personally, I think Panera should make a move and start advertising their free Wi-Fi to people who own a Starbucks reward card. Bring it in, enjoy some free Web surfing and get some type of discount on Panera's food and/or coffee. By doing this, they would borrow a great idea from another competitor who took advantage of Starbuck's uncanny ability to stay out-of-tune with consumers. The first was Caribou, who began accepting an electronic Starbucks coupon - originally intended for Starbucks' own employees - which leaked to the general public. Rather than accepting the coupon themselves, Starbucks withdrew the offer days after it was sent out, saying that it went beyond its original intent. With their ears perked up in the social media space, Caribou cashed in by accepting the coupon in exchange for a medium-sized drink of their own, driving would-be Starbucks customers into their doors by the Volkswagen SUV-load. Hopefully, Panera is also tuned in and will show us another great example of how a company can use social media to its advantage.
Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: CommentsI think we'll see more and more of trading one's personal information for "free" things like wi-fi, as Starbucks is doing, and my bet is that web surfers will soon have to do this to read news content on the sites of major newspapers. You can bet that Starbucks will compare how much each user surfs to how much they buy, and determine what business benefit, if any, free wi-fi has on their bottom line. They'll also use that info to market to rewards card holders in a much more targeted manner. Posted by: Steve Shannon at January 13, 2009 1:21 PM Post a comment |
