The Starbucks Coffee Company
Innovation in Public Relations Report for PRL 206: Public Relations Principles and Practice with Professor Bradford Horn at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
Innovation in Public Relations
Research
Starbucks is a leading international food and beverage retailer that attracts over ten million people every single day for their well-known brand and their beverage offerings. After its founding in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zeg Siegl, and Gordon Bowker at Seattle’s Pike Place Market, Howard Shultz joined the company in 1982 and transformed the company into a coffeehouse inspired by Milan. Since then, the national brand has since grown to over 40,000 stores across the world that operates in over 80 countries. After over 50 years, they have one of the strongest global networks across the world and are committed to innovation, quality, and continuous improvement. However, in recent years, the store’s profit margins have declined, and the company has faced major crises in fiscal development and brand identity. High prices, political affiliations, and an oversaturated market have led to push back from loyal customers and have forced Starbucks to reevaluate their mission and brand identity.
Consumers have expressed great frustration over Starbucks’s steeply high prices increases over recent years. The company has blamed inflation as the reasoning, but many individuals feel that they can no longer afford the brand. In turn, the prices have deterred customers and actually caused a decline in everyday sales from loyal customers. Since the coffee industry is so highly saturated, people know they are always able to find their favorite coffee drink in other places at a potentially cheaper costs, so once loyal customers are now turning to alternative options.
Additionally, in late 2023, Starbucks sued the Starbucks Workers United because of a retweet posted by the organization that stated, “Solidarity with Palestine!” followed by an image of a bulldozer tearing down the Gaza fence. Many people viewed this lawsuit as Starbucks sharing their support for Israel, which led to claims from people that Starbucks directly funds Israel. As a result, many customers expressed concern and outrage and began boycotting Starbucks. These boycotts significantly impacted Starbucks’s market value, as the company lost approximately $11 billion in 2023.
In September of 2024, Brian Niccol was named the fifth chief executive officer (CEO) of Starbucks. Niccol brings over 25 years of extensive experience in the food industry to Starbucks, including the position of CEO at both Chipotle and Taco Bell. He had explicitly shared his intentions to get “back to Starbucks” – an initiative to refocus the brand’s goals on being a coffeehouse for people to gather. While the fiscal reports show that these initiatives do appear to be working, many individuals still share concerns over Starbucks’s steep prices and their affiliation with the war in the middle east.
The “back to Starbucks” strategy first began with Starbucks reemphasizing and updating their mission statement:
To be the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world, inspiring and nurturing the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.
In a letter addressed to partners, customers, and stakeholders, Niccol stated that the company would focus their time and energy on strengthening their identity as a “welcoming coffeehouse where people gather.” Since September of 2024, Starbucks has taken many initiatives to reshape their brand and establish their identity.
Audience
Starbucks has such strong brand recognition across the world that people of all demographics consistently visit Starbucks. However, their target audience of consumers who visit on a regular basis are between the ages of 18 and 40. More specifically, these individuals tend to be upper-middle class that either work corporate jobs or are students. They are often loyal customers who visit habitually. Due to these demographics, Starbucks has expanded their offerings from simply coffee to other offerings, such as their Refreshers and Energy Drinks. They adapt to fit the needs of this entire demographic, offering a meeting spot, a working spot, or simply a grab-and-go option for busy-working people.
Goal
Rebuild the trust and commitment with customers, partners, and stakeholders by heavily focusing on the quality of food and drink, the in-store ambiance, and the efficiency of store operations. To accomplish this, Starbucks must partner with employees, community organizations, and customers in order to best serve each community in a way that benefits each store the best.
Objectives
While the “back to Starbucks” campaign has shown some successes in relation to their fiscal earnings, I suggest expanding upon this and launching a campaign focused on beverage quality and community engagement.
The first objective is to increase in-store visits by 15% within five months by hosting at least one community-focused partnership per month, and offering promotion based on orders “for here.”
The second objective is to improve their American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) score by three points during 2025, focusing on food and drink quality and measuring with post-purchase surveys found in the app or on receipts.
The third objective is to reduce average wait time to four minutes by the end of Q4 2025. This will be accomplished by reducing menu offerings and streamlining beverage preparation stations, and implementing Artificial Intelligence (AI).
PESO Analysis
The use of paid media will include partnering with well-known celebrities and influencers such as Olivia Rodrigo, Zendaya, Kevin Jonas, and Anna Sitar. These are all highly popular individuals within gen-z and millennials who already have well-known Starbucks orders. These partnerships will appear as sponsored posts on both Instagram and TikTok, showing them at Starbucks ordering their favorite drink. These orders should highlight the variety of options offered and current promotions.
In addition, I would recommend holding a promotion that allows a free drink of any size and/or customizations to each rewards member who orders a drink “for here” in a glass from May 1st to June 30th. Since Starbucks rarely offers promotions to this extent, this promotion will attract earned media from sources such as the New York Times and the Washington Post food sections. With the use of media pitching and press releases, Starbucks will encourage these news sources to highlight the company in a way that is customer-focused and wants to play an active role in communities.
The use of shared media will allow for the Starbucks community to engage and come together as one unit. After sharing celebrities and influencers ordering their favorite drink, the question “What Is Your Drink? Let Us Know with #mystarbucksdrink” will appear at the end of the video posted on Instagram and TikTok. This hashtag will encourage customers to take to social media and share their own drink, creating a trend and boosting engagement.
Owned media will include email marketing sent to current Starbucks rewards members in addition to in-app notifications sharing promotions like the free drink promotion. Additionally, the company will release a series of videos for employees to remind them of the “Starbucks Way,” and the importance of focusing on quality while preparing beverages and food.
Conclusion
After over 50 years of operation, Starbucks is an extraordinarily popular brand with people all around the world. However, this vast experience the brand has does not mean that they are strangers to challenges with their brand identity and values. The “back to Starbucks” initiative addressed some of customers’ concerns, but the campaign outlined in the strategic plan above will further make customers feel included and enjoy Starbucks once again. As Starbucks works to further explore their brand identity and reform, it remains a leader in the food and beverage industry with a highly recognizable brand across the globe.