By request, I am starting a thread to talk about promotions which may (or may not!) be happening at Starbucks in February. The two areas where I’ve heard murmurs of promotions relate to breakfast sandwiches and wraps, and whole bean coffee.
#1)
First off, I’ve seen a number of tweets which state that from January 30, 2012 through February 4, 2012, when you purchase any handcrafted beverage (or any brewed coffee) that a customer can buy a breakfast wrap or a breakfast sandwich for just $2.00. Since I am a fan of the new Chicken Sausage Breakfast Wrap at Starbucks, this new promotion (sadly for just 5 days) sounds like a fabulous idea.
#2)
Secondly, in a previous thread, a partner suggested that there might be a “29 Star Dash” coming soon to promote whole bean coffee. The idea, as I understood it, (and admittedly, I might not have gotten it right), would be that a customer must earn 29 stars on his or her card during the month of February. After 29 stars have been earned, there will be a way to redeem them for a pound of whole bean coffee. Since there are 29 days in February this year (leap year), I assume that the idea is to get people to go every single day to Starbucks. Casi Cielo returns to Starbucks in February also, so the timing is perfect with the annual launch of that coffee. READ THE EDIT BELOW PLEASE.
(Edit: In the comments there has been clarification regarding the 29 Star Dash. This blog post has been through a number of edits in just the few hours that it has been up. Thank you SO much to the many readers who responded, and the clarifying email. The 29 Star Dash requires that the Starbucks customer receive an invitation email, and then upon earning 29 Stars, Starbucks will send the customer a $10 eGift Card. There is a second 29 Star Dash that some people received which is a promotion for whole bean coffee. I personally did not receive either promotional e-mail but hopefully some of my readers did, and/or will keep an eye out for it. )
This is another one of those threads that I might regret publishing, but it seems like an interesting conversation, and February isn’t that far away! It would be easy to miss out on the first one because it lasts for only a few days!
And this is an open thread. Feel free to talk about anything Starbucks-related. (Warning: I have not confirmed either of the two promotions with Starbucks. There could be errors in the above information.)
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It’s too bad that my Starbucks (inside a Target) doesn’t do the breakfast wraps. I would have loved to try them. Especially for $2!
My local store posted the breakfast sandwich deal on their Twitter/Facebook. I’m not a breakfast person, but I know my dad will appreciate the deal.
As for the unconfirmed 29 star dash…with a tall brewed at $1.75, that’s a minimum of $50.75 to get a $10-15 pound of coffee. It doesn’t seem so bad until you do the math :/ but perhaps that’s just me. Though, I suppose, you can just do a bunch of small transactions of pastries (I don’t eat the pastries any more, not sure of the price point and if it would be more cost effective, etc)
@Amanda and @Katherine – Amanda do you have a company-operated store near you? Sorry I know sometimes the licensed locations aren’t like the company ones at all. @Katherine – I was thinking of this more from the perspective that if you already are close to 29 visits a month, or exceed that number of stars normally, this is a wonderful added reward as a “thank you” for being so frequent. If you don’t already go to Starbucks very often, then yeah I guess it’s an expensive way to get a pound of bean. :s
sounds good to me. I rarely (and if I do, it’s because I’m using a ‘sweet 15’ card) go a day that I don’t spend some $$$ @Sbux……my not-so-inexpensive 4shot tall bla bla bla…and often something else. 29 stars would not be hard……and especially since I’m already doing it!!!! would be fun to be extra ‘rewarded’ for what I already do!
we’ll see if this pans out…am hoping so.
Melody, I guess you’re right- it’s for the people that go everyday already. When I was in Alaska, I went everyday because it was a good excuse to get out of the office 😛 But out here, it’s not as quick as walking down the block and I just end up brewing at home. I only get to Starbucks maybe 3x/week. Sucks to not really be a regular customer any longer 🙁
Oh and since this is an open thread…can someone please suggest a good whole bean coffee? While everyone at my local Starbucks is wonderful, they’re not great at suggesting beans. I bought Italian Roast last night and I’ve had to force myself to finish it (to me, it was lacking any depth and was very blah). I had the Christmas Espresso before that and really enjoyed it. So is my best bet to go with the Espresso again?
I got an email from Starbucks asking me to participate in the 29 star dash, you have to register for it, you click on the button in the email, and if you get 29 stars you get a $10 Starbucks gift card emailed to you.
@Katherine – Right now all the coffees that knock my socks off are Reserves, The Reserve Sidamo is fantastic. The next seasonal coffee will be Casi Cielo, which will be wonderful. The core whole bean lineup leaves me wanting a bit, but the core Sumatra is always a good choice, and I do genuinely like the Espresso Roast blend as a bold and fine cup of drip coffee.
@Stephanie – Eeek. I think I’ve messed up this blog post totally. So wait, it’s a promotion for pre-selected customers? I definitely did not get this email. Maybe it went to be people who already are right around or just below 29 stars a month?? Would you be able to forward the email to me – Melody at StarbucksMelody dot com.
Weird that it is pre-selected. I wonder why I got it. It sort of sounds like an idea I suggested on MSI awhile back. I always have 20-30 stars a month so this will be easy.
Melody – maybe they are targeting it to customers who generally don’t buy whole bean, to try and get them into that market too?
Katherine – I love the Christmas Espresso Roast! The Christmas blend is built around aged Sumatra, so perhaps you might like the Sumatra? My other favourite is Kenya, though it comes from a completely different growing region, so it would not be similar at all. Were you eating anything when you had your Italian Roast? It’s really tasty with tomatoes.
I forgot to say that I really want to try the Chicken Sausage wrap! We did not get it here.
@Michelle and Katherine – I totally thought the Espresso Roast Christmas Blend was great too – But I think most stores are out of that now.
@Katherine — My personal year-round favorite Starbucks blends are (in preference order) Komodo Dragon, Sumatra, Verona, and Gold Coast. Verona is Starbucks best seller and I have yet to meet a person who does not like it (except for people who love Pike 😉 ).
The seasonal special blends are usually pretty good for most folks, I enjoy them all. Looking forward to Casi Cielo and I sure hope Starbucks comes through and has Tribute again.
I used to splurge and order all the reserve coffees as they became available online (we are “remote” so no reserve stores, the mules refuse to carry it over the Cascades 😉 ), but now it depends 😕 .
Katherine, I hope I have been helpful.
I find it funny if it is targeted towards those who generally do not purchase whole bean as I bought two pounds yesterday. Christmas Espresso is great, but all stores should be brewing through any remaining pounds so you will not see it until Holidays 2012.
DadCooks – Allow me to be the first you know that doesn’t like Verona, to me it tastes like an ashtray. I’ve heard rumours that Tribute will be back. I hope they’re true!
Are there two different 29 Star Dashes? One for WB, and the other for the $10 gift card? Anyways, I too have heard a number of rumors that tribute blend will be back again this year. I think it’s true that it is coming back. On the Starbucksstore.com page, it’s mentioned as a featured coffee this year for the Starbucks Traditions Coffee Tour.
http://www.starbucksstore.com/traditions-tour/TOURTRADITIONS01,default,pd.html?start=4&cgid=tours
http://starbucksmelody.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Traditions-Tour-Tribute-mentioned.jpg
I’m a partner in the midwest, and I have seen the promo signs (we got them way early!) for the $2 sandwiches with the purchase of a handcrafted beverage. And I’ve also heard that we may be seeing Tribute blend again!
http://na3.salesforce.com/apex/ideaview?id=08750000000H1fYAAS
I like that this is similar to what I suggested, but seems easier than my suggestions. Hopefully 2012 will bring a continued focus on coffee.
Thanks all for the coffee suggestions. I was going to go with Sumatra, but they were all out. I bought some Gold Coast that I’ll try later tonight. I remember buying it years ago and I assume if I don’t remember, it wasn’t totally bad, haha.
@Michelle Italian Roast with tomatoes? Just the thought of that is gross! But, then again, I’ve never been good at pairing foods with coffee
@DadCooks I think we have one store around here that has the Reserve coffees, but it’s totally out of the way for me. I feel like I should be more dedicated, but wasting half a gallon of gas to get there is too much for me!
My favorite coffees are: Verona, Tribute Blend, Casi Cielo, Christmas Blend Espresso, Kenya, Gold Coast, and now Veranda. I miss Ethiopia Sidamo, but look forward to ordering it through starbucksstore.com. That is how I will have access to the reserve whole bean.
@Michelle — your dislike of Verona is noted 😉
@Katherine — I hope you enjoy your Gold Coast. Do you grind your own beans or have Starbucks do it for you? Personally, I like the control I have by doing my own grinding.
@Melody — I believe you have mentioned doing more Reserve reviews, I sure hope so so that those of us that have to mail order or drive a distance can make an informed choice.
@DadCooks – I haven’t done enough Reserve reviews. I really need to put together something for Sidamo. I take for granted that I am right here in the 98101. 🙁
I would love to see Reserve reviews. I think I will always be jealous of how spoiled you are Melody! Someday I hope to move way up in the company and help implement exciting new products and be the one sending you a sample of a new coffee/offering. Perhaps in 20 years I will be a part of the food team or test market team. 🙂
Yes! Your Reserve reviews are some of my favorites!! The only problem is that some of the ones you gave a good review of (the Rwanda Gakenke and the Hawaii Ka’u or Kona comes to mind) are sold out on the website before I have an opportunity to order them. Others I have ordered and tried and have not liked; but I only could base it from the tasting notes on Starbucks when I ordered it. I just hope for an actual Reserve store nearby someday!!!
Also, I did not get an email for the 29 star dash :-/
In fact, I haven’t gotten any gold perks in a very, very long time other than the free drink cards. 🙁
Annoying that only certain customers can qualify for the 29 Star Dash. Borderline insulting, actually.
Definitely should be posted on MSI. I feel a little upset I received it as I am a partner and already get free coffee. I wish I could pass it on to Melody or someone here. Sorry guys!
I too agree that marketing these Feb promotions to only certain customers does not sit right with me. I would think from a bottom line perspective and customer service perspective they would offer these promotions to all cardholders. This morning I saw a sign for the $2 breakfast promotion and asked partners about the 29 Dash promotion and they claim they know nothing about it.
If this ‘dash’ is indeed a ‘select’ group who reveived an email about it…….. then I agree with most of the above comments.
@Hayley: same here. long time…..except the sweet15 drinks.
It is diasppointing that when you’re a loyal, very long-time customer, you are not one chosen to be included in such a plan, or ‘treats’.
@DadCooks: I agree with you…had not seen anyone ….(until now:) who didn’t like Verona. It is a big seller. I like at alot…..
and yes, it does say on msi, in the Ideas in Action, posted on Dec.30th by Cecile, that bringing back Tribute blend is a ‘pending’ idea. I met no one last yr who did not LOVE that coffee.
ughhhhhh, bummed if this plan is the email exclusive thing. (I do spend way too much there….;)
@DeniseR, Brett, Purple1, Hayley
@Brett – I can understand that feeling. Starbucks is so large that they’ve been doing preselected-group promotions, it seems. I remember not that long ago seeing people around me who got a coupon for a free Everything Bagel when that was new, but I was not sent that coupon. I contacted Starbucks and was told a very empty response, “it was sent to a small group.”
Starbucks has said that there are something like 2 million gold card holders. I guess if 2 million people got an email that encouraged them to go to Starbucks 29 times in one month, then if all did, they’d spend at least 20 million in gift cards – Which for a company of their size could be doable! And the question would be, would it be worth it in all the extra money spent by customers during that month??? I don’t know, and I can’t even guess.
But yes, it can feel insulting to realize that you’re not in the selected group.
@purple1 – I almost never expect partners to know anything about the card, and even less so about card promotions. True story from last night (and Denise will appreciate this) –
I spent the day doing errands. I was driving on my way home, and stopped into the Starbucks on Elliott. It’s a dt through store near a Taco Time, but I went inside. It was very quiet. I hate it when my phone battery is low, so I got a drink, plugged in my phone, and played words with friends (finally catching up on my many open games) for like seriously, a full 20 minutes. Finally, I decided to grab a pound of beans for home. I picked out House (yes, I do get cravings for House now and then) and I went up to the register and said that I wanted a tall coffee frappuccino for my free drink.
The register partner (whom I later learned is “Miranda”) looked confused. She went over to the DT register, and I could see her trying to ring it, and she’s fervently doing this thing where she’s looking all over the bag for a code. I said to her, I kid you not, “just ring it in. The register will take it off, I promise.”
She really didn’t say much, but she did just that. She came back with my receipt and exclaimed that she didn’t know that worked. I said it’s been that way since 2008 (which is true if you consider the first generation of card perks launched in 2008, and announced by Howard at that Shareholders’ Meeting.)
Then she said to me, and I kid you not… “I was told it was a free coffee.” It was super difficult to contain myself, but I managed and simply said, that you get ANY tall beverage at the green level when buying a pound of beans or a half pound of Reserve beans. And she said she didn’t know that, and that she’d only been a partner since October.
Starbucks just does zilch to train partners about the card, and even less to train them about card promotions. In my humble opinion, it’s their major area of problems. It creates awkward customer experiences as well. My drink is almost always perfect, and baristas look like they care about drink quality around here. Around here, the overwhelming majority of baristas are quite friendly and welcoming. But as to card benefits, Starbucks appears a bit lost. They’re struggling to figure out how to manage a program with MILLIONS of customers in it, and then communicate it effectively to 190,000 partners. That’s a struggle, or so it appears.
Btw, the register partner at the Elliott store was absolutely polite through out the experience, just simply didn’t know the card perks by her own stated conversation to me. I know the DM of that store, and I trust he knows what he’s doing and I might just email him so he can circle back and just make all his partners there know the card inside and out.
@Melody — in the past I have found contacting the DM to be totally unproductive, even counter-productive 🙁 . They have jumped all over the Store Manager and Partners, doing “remedial” training and not addressing the issue. The newest DM has not been introduced to the regular circle (at least one of us by now would have met the DM). She comes in, spreads out her giant laptop and “stuff” over 2 tables and has all the Partners quaking in their shoes and is unapproachable by customers.
I hate to sound elitist, but since I was one of the fortunate few to be rewarded with a Black Gold Card, before it was sold to anyone, and my Starbucks Card purchases are relatively high for just a brew drinker, to be excluded from any promotion is a slap in the face. Each year I feel that my many years of patronage is appreciated less and less. Starbucks doesn’t realize that it is the long-term loyal customer that pays the rent, keeps the lights on, and pays the Partners. Oops I feel a Business 101 rant coming on.
Just for your information, while my screen name and email are the same for here and MSI, my card registration is totally separate and different so Starbucks cannot be slighting me for my comments here or on MSI, there is no way to tie the two together.
The first week of January I did write (snail mail,) to Starbucks complaining about the poor quality of the 31 Free Tumbler, still no response after 3-weeks.
I received the email and I usually have 30 transactions a month, so I am not sure why I received it. When I can get on my laptop, I will post a MSI thread to open up the promotions to all members. Seems a bit ridiculous to exclude some!
A couple of thoughts about marketing. Every offer isn’t meant for every customer. $2 treat receipts exist to get once per day customers to make a second trip in the same day. Promotions like this 29 Star Dash were probably sent to customers who are 2-3 times per week customers to try to entice them to make a concerted effort to visit every day.
It reminds me of all the discussions around a rewards program before it ever started. Most of our customers are long-term loyal customers. Giving away free drinks with every 15 purchases has to come from somewhere, it comes from raising prices slightly on beverages.
Having purchase data on all Rewards members but then ignoring it to send out coupons to all the members is neither cost effective nor smart marketing. It’s like going to a Department Store and getting a discount for opening one of their charge accounts. It’s a benefit offered to new customers only, but it’s not done to slight existing customers. Starbucks isn’t in business just to give away money to regular customers for doing what they would have already done, they need to do enough to keep those customers happy AND turn existing occasional customers into regulars.
I totally get what you’re saying Chris, and while it’s not intended to slight existing customers, these kind of promotions do send the signal, ‘we’re going to reward you more if you’re a little less loyal to us…‘ I see both sides of the problem: It’s not cost effective to send 2 million people a $10 gift card. But it’s not great to just assume since your most loyal customers are loyal, you don’t have to do anything for them.
Melody – I understand what you’re saying; that you want to reward your most loyal customers, but with the economy being the way that it is, everyone (not just Starbucks) is trying to get more people through their doors every day. Chances are it’s easier to bring in an ‘occasional’ customer more often than someone who has never been before, and also easier to increase the occasional customers visits than to increase that of a regular customer who already comes in 2-3 times a day.
The breakfast sandwich promotion is an excellent way to reward customers who are regulars. Every day of the promo you’ll get a discount, if you choose to have it. We ran a similar promotion last week and it went over very well with customers.
Find it strange I received the email if it wasn’t sent to regular customers. I generally have a average of 1-2 stars daily, even on my days off!
I did not receive an email for the 29 Stars promotion.
I am a 5 day a week person. My drink order runs in the $5 range. On average I would say that I normally go an extra four times in a month besides my morning run. This promotion would behoove me.
But if I went only two to three times a week, shooting for 29 stars would be costly.
If this promotion was meant as a reward than I have been slighted. If this promotion was meant to entice less frequent customers through the door, so be it.
I have yet to see any news here about a $2 breakfast sandwich promotion. It would be nice. That would help me get over my Perfect Oatmeal addiction!
Oddly, all of this conversation makes me miss the simplicity of the original card perks, announced March 2008, by Howard at the annual meeting of shareholders. There were no levels of welcome, green or gold. There were no stars. It was just you registered your card, and here’s what you got: Free milk upgrades (soy, breve), Free syrups (vanilla, raspberry etc…); Free any tall beverage when buying one pound of beans; Free wifi for 2 hours (now a moot point since free for everyone); Free refills for in-store visits.
Of course, they added stars because it helps Starbucks! It gets people to come more to the store, and spend more. But yes, the simplicity of the very first generation of card rewards … Maybe we should just go back to that.
I agree, simpler is better. It’s not live giving someone a free bag of coffee after 29 stars (!!!) is going to break the bank.
I am just getting back to my computer now and so enjoy all the comments. Dad Cooks I think I am going to send an email to customer service about that Jan tumbler and see if I get a response. The whole experience really gets me mad. Re loyalty and promotions- I remember way back when SB would send customers a $5 gift card for being a loyal customer and just add it to your account. Have not seen that in ages! I wonder still how they decide what promotion to give to what customer? Would love to know their theory behind these decisions. Thanks Melody for opening up this discussion.
@DadC……THANK YOU!!!! for so beautifully saying what I (feeling ‘elitist’ by saying such thing!!!) exactly wanted to say. I DO feel slighted, I DON’T feel ANY sympathy for Sbux corp which is doing sooooo well, ($$$) and which I support daily (or more) with a very not- inexpensive drink, and also brew their coffee at home every morning….even not at home….! so that’s at least 1#/10days, at least. bla bla bla. I also cannot understand why any partner would be included in this……and I abolutely mean no disrespect to any partner but br realistic! I find that amazing.
and, I’m sick of Sbux trying to bring in the customers from McD’s and Dunkin’ etc…with free wifi and now this (previously promised WOULD NEVER HAPPEN) Blonde stuff…while removing other coffees all the time.
@Melody: I understand how BIG they are and how ever many number of gold cards there are. I know it’s all huge. and a HUGE part of Sbux HUGE-ness is from customers like you and me and millions of others.
I do feel slighted, absolutely, to not be included in this special 29 day thing. I have already missed (“there was a glitch in the system”) many small rewards….treat things, etc. (NOT counting regional things) I was told, when I asked, by my store today (one partner went back and looked it up…none of othe others knew).that yes, there is the 4day $2.00 breakfast sandwich deal. That’s nice. and I’m sure I’ll take advantage of it, considering I buy the “veggie-cheese-egg” sandwich fairly regularly anyway.
Truly I am sorry for this rant, but….couldn’t be helped. I think this giant corp should be rewarding their best (ie: most frequent, $$$ etc) customers before they make some attempt to get people in who obiously have NOT supported them to nearly the same extent as some of us.
sorry. shutting up now……:((
Oh! one thing else: I do agree and find it absolutely amazing that Sbux cannot get that ‘free tall drink’ with # across to their employees. We’ve been talking about that forevvvvver!
Melody, I agree with you 100%! Simpler was better.
@Melody — yes I did mail to Customer Service. To tell you the truth, the poor quality and function of the tumbler is worthy of a recall. Definitely not a good example for the “made in USA” product.
Running reward/loyalty card programs is an art and science.
An excerpt from the 1/17/12 Wall Street Journal:
“The Starbucks Card sees more transaction volume than any card of its kind. According to detailed data on the company’s website separate from its financial statements, $2.2 billion was loaded onto Starbucks Cards in the year through September 2011, up 151% from the same period of 2006. That is triple the rate of growth across the entire in-store gift-card market, in which an estimated $89.7 billion was added in 2011, says Ben Jackson of Mercator Advisory Group.
The Starbucks Card may be more critical to company sales than investors realize. Last year, purchases made on the cards accounted for 18% of company revenue. Starbucks doesn’t split the transactions by country, but assuming purchases were almost all in the U.S., they accounted for 27% of domestic retail revenue. That compares with 13% in 2006.”
That’s a lot of cards and a lot of cash flow. However, Starbucks may be looking at the good numbers in the wrong way. There are 4 members in my family, each with different buying habits and fitting to a couple of demographic categories; basically one young college educated and the other professional and nearing retirement/retired (me 😉 ). Most of the offers we get are the same and do not seem to be targeted as much as I would think. I’ll just leave that general comment hanging as I am getting into a long dissertation, I hope folks get the gist.
@purple1 — I too really felt more special back in the old days before the “rewards” when I got that $5, sometimes $10, added to my card. That meant more to me because it seemed more of a sincere “thank you for your business”.
@denise r — thank you for saving me a rant 😉 and making this post longer.
Dad Cooks just wanted to tell you I just sent off an email to the DM in my region re the January tumbler and will be curious how he responds if he does. I have met him several times so I am hoping since he knows me he will answer the email. We shall see for sure. BTW the $2.00 breakfast sandwich promotion sign is displayed right by the front door – an interesting choice and I have never seen it placed there.
I’m late to the game, but I received the “free whole beans” 29-star-dash email. I signed up, but it’s unlikely I’ll come anywhere close. As an earlier poster said about the math: it is far cheaper just to buy a bag of beans and keep my current pace of 1-2 visits a week.
I got the $2 breakfast sandwich email this morning. Haven’t seen the 29 star dash one. 🙁
My husband and I have also been disappointed with the Jan tumbler. At first, it was fine. Recently though we’ve noticed that it is leaking coffee in between the layers of plastic and staining the decorative paper liner. That can’t be healthy, since you can’t get that clean and we can’t find the leak.
🙁 I did get an email (today) about the $2.00 breakfast sandwich..but there’s nothing ‘special’ about that…..in the sense that anyone can take advantage of this. I do think it’s a nice idea….hoping they’ll send the stores ENOUGH product for the ‘special’……..that has often been a mis-step before.
and, this has nothing to do, still, with NOT being a part of the 29-whatever plan. bad business, imo. and @DadC…thanx much for the WSJ article…..speaks volumes.
Got the $2 breakfast “samich” 😉 email this morning.
Reading the fine print, it is not available with any other offer, which is immaterial now as my 31 Free Tumbler is now totally filled with condensation and the paper liner is all puckered and wrinkled so back to my trusty stainless steel tumbler. Since I got the 31 Free Tumbler I sensed its poor quality (weighs less than other plastic tumblers I have) so I never immersed it and cleaned with care. (must stop now, rant coming on)
It’s Monday so I need to not let some company’s poor quality standards affect my attitude today, but there had better not be Italian on tap again today 😡 🙄
@ Anyone – Good Monday morning! I got the breakfast sandwich email today. Hey thank you everyone who has “liked” the blog – I noticed that I just hit 900 likes which is fantastic to me! Thank you!
I didn’t have the leaking problems with the tumblers, but during January I had received a couple of customer emails about that, but I don’t think I saved them. This blog generates roughly one email a day (or more) and many of them are CS related stuff, and I just don’t have time to answer all of them. I did notice that the tumbler does not hold heat, but I assume that to be the case with all totally plastic tumblers.
On a side note (this is so random) listening to Crocodile Rock, Philadelphia Freedom, and Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart really puts me in the right mood for the week ahead of me. Okay, I should delete this … but I do like Elton John!
I hate to repeat what others have said but also got the $2 breakfast sandwich email and it seems so crazy. Denise R your last comment I so agree with as well as I found the piece from the WSJ that Dad Cooks posted so eye opening. Certainly, SB can offer that 29 Dash offer to more customers than they have done so far. Melody it would be neat if you ever could get a guest blogger from marketing to open up about some of these issues!