This March, MyStarbucksIdea.com celebrated its fifth year anniversary. That’s a long time. I joined in the very beginning, in March of 2008. The site was officially unveiled at the 2008 Starbucks annual meeting of shareholders. Before the meeting started, there were partners walking around with little cards that said something like, “Do you have an idea for Starbucks?” and some of those early ideas were uploaded onto MSI from the paper cards.
There is no doubt, MyStarbucksIdea.com has influenced some of the things that Starbucks has done over the past five years. The yearly return of Tribute Blend can be directly tied to MyStarbucksIdea.com! And, I am thankful for that one being launched! That might be my favorite of launched idea. The StarbucksStore.com starting selling gear and clothing in response to customer demand on MSI.
I wanted to pass on this infographic because I thought that the stats in it were totally interesting. Who knew that the San Fernando Valley of California sells the most Frappuccinos? I would have guessed somewhere in Arizona? And who knew that Fridays are the most popular days for cake pops? LOL. That’s funny. I haven’t liked all of the cake pops, but there was a rocky road a while back that was wonderful!
I still have a wish list for MyStarbucksIdea.com. I would love to be able to have the ability to report a thread more than one time. Right now, if there is an “abuse” problem in a thread, a user can click a button that says, “report abuse.” You get one chance per thread to report abuse. That’s it. If the same thread becomes a problem again, hours later, weeks later, months later, there’s no way to go back and re-report the same thread. You’ve already spent your one chance. Thankfully, one might not even need this function often, but when you need it, you really do need it.
What do I think of MyStarbucksIdea.com? I think it serves a valuable role. It’s like a weather vane which always lets Starbucks knows which way the wind is currently blowing. It’s not an exact science. And sometimes weather vanes don’t tell you everything you need to know about whether going outside is a good idea, but it is still a valuable role. On top of that, you never know when someone is going to post an idea that really touches a chord and is introduced in a meaningful way.
When it comes to a company filtering new ideas and products, there is a Howard Schultz moment which I find to be near brilliant. I leave you with that:
Howard Schultz:
Even though Starbucks has become a big company – and I think especially since when I came back – I wanted to kind of reignite the entrepreneurial DNA of the company. And great entrepreneurs have to have the curiosity to see around corners. And then the organization must have the courage to kind of go after it. I think we don’t want to bet the company on a new idea but we want to stretch the envelope a bit. This is not a science; it’s more of an art. Some of it is intuitive. We do use some forms of research sometimes. We want to be able to test things and surprise and delight our customers. So… but the majority of ideas that get generated don’t make it to the store. There is just so much we can do. But every now and then I think you gotta take a very big swing, like we did with Via. And demonstrate that you could take the road less traveled and bring quality and execution to a category that has not had it. And I think great companies, whether it’s Apple or Nike or other consumer brands, provide the market place with products and services that perhaps the customer didn’t think they needed. And all of a sudden they say “God, I can’t live without this.” And those things are hard to research. A lot of it is intuitive.
Feel free to talk about anything related to MyStarbucksIdea.com.
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Interesting, the stats in your infographic is more than enough to know who the winner is when it comes to selling the most frappoccinos..
Melody I remember the early days of MSI and it was good and fun to read. I remember Cecile was reaching out to folks to get their feedback (spoke with her once), but to be honest I hardly go there anymore. I just think it has gotten so big that it has lost its original focus.
I agree with purple1. All it seems to be now is people complaining about “free soy” along with other ridiculous complaints.
If only there were some way to filter “suggestions” — for instance, if your suggestion has to do with “almond milk”, the site could automatically suggest other posts to “thumbs up” or comment on before having yet ANOTHER thread for the same subject.
There are definitely ways that MyStarbucksIdea.com could be improved. I easily agree with that! But most businesses know that even a long-standing string of complaints and repeats is valuable information – that doesn’t mean that they should act on it! Those bazillion “almond milk” threads are a perfect example of that. Like a weather vane, tells where the storm is, but it’s not a sophisticated weather channel. You need more than that to know if it should be implemented. But YES, MSI could use help – There could be more moderators to jump in and close store-specific complaints and refer those people to Cust Service, and there is a suggestion box when making a new idea, but people seem to ignore it. There could be better consolidating of threads – almond milk is a perfect example of that too. Lots of these problems could be solved with more moderators and much more active mods.
I have to say, altho it is overwhelmingly CRAZY a lot of the time, especially when some threads are being so vulgar and abusive and one especial “USER” is on with another new name, I do still check it out daily, and comment or post as I see fit. If it wasn’t for MSI, many of us would not even know each other (so to speak) today! So, that’s a good thing. (does need more moderation, for sure!)
5 years!! That’s amazing. I haven’t been to MSI in quite a while.
Howard Schultz: “There is just so much we can do.”
Exactly…. So how long can msi continue before it is moot? I know I can come off as being rather callus with some people at msi, but it’s not amazon.com or ebay where you should be able to get just about anything you expect. There are too many ideas that should be moderated and stopped from the beginning. IMHO – too many ideas have no place at msi. It’s hard to tell the difference any more between who is sincere, and who is using it for entertaining themselves.
Chgo. I think much of what you’re saying relates to the site being under-moderated, not it’s ultimate purpose. There are tons of new threads that could be closed, and nipped in the bud quickly. As a good example, people constantly ask for digital tipping, and everyone of those could be immediately closed, and marked coming soon. Howard’s quote does bode a little against MSI – People often don’t know what they want. (faster horses?). On the other hand, if managed well, the site is a constant source of feedback, and hot topic info. But I will fully admit, there is a need for more moderators, and faster, quicker moderation. Frankly, there are a number of CupaJoe “MADVs” ideas that are hardly “ideas” at all and could be closed immediately. And there could be some benefit to closing & deleting stale ideas. Actually, I’d like to see a “delete this idea” button – People DO create ideas where they have 2nd thoughts about it (I have done this too) and there’s no easy way to get it deleted. I’ve emailed with no luck. Instead, those ideas can be a bit like litter on the roadway.
@Melody – I honestly believe your blog makes more sense.
Let’s just say msi was properly moderated. There would be a lot less ideas. I think by having less ideas, it almost suggests that eventually it would become a waste of time to have all that moderation. I agree that msi needs it now, but if they nip it in the butt, sooner or later I see it becoming relaxed, and then the nonsense returns.
If we see some moderation toward repeats, complaints, or non ideas, how many new ideas on average might we see on msi on a daily basis? I think we would see a drastic drop in participation! Without all that traffic and participation, how would they justify the extra moderation when they hardly moderate it now?
I have no hidden agenda against Cupajoe, but it’s almost as if they refuse to moderate him because he makes msi colorful and amusing. To me, it’s like hearing the same joke over and over again! Eventually, it’s just not funny anymore. I have no problem with having fun on msi, but I would expect that at the very least, the ideas would be genuine and somewhat realistic in regards to how it might apply to customers. Cupajoe doesn’t seem to be able to make a distinction between what is Starbucks responsibility to do, and what their vendors should be doing for them “IF and ONLY” it is already available. I for one don’t see the need to make coffee or a coffee shop so complicated and sophistic. To me, it should be a simple pleasure. Of quality of course.
oops – sophisticated…
Congratulations!!
I’am a Partner of Mexico City than follow you since 2 years ago… it’s very interesting and amazing this site, with all information, each coffee tasting, each description, each photo… everything!
With persons as you, we trust that our mission is real and wonderfull.
Congratulations again!
I dread going to MSI today. Starbucks sent out an email that appears to have gone to every email address in an MSI profile. This means MSI will be essentially useless for several days, with a weekend of crap and doubtful moderation to clean up the nonsense.
I hope I am wrong.
@DadCooks – Are you speaking of the extrashotofgood to your day email?
No, this one was titled “Celebrating 5 years of inspiration” and came to the email address that I use for my MSI profile. I have another specific email for my Starbucks Card, plus one for the StarbucksStore. That way I know what “marketing” is coming from where.
The “Add an #extrashotofgood to your day” email (with the Twitter hashtag) came on 4/2/13. That just brought out the “twits” ;0)
Following is a web link to the email, in case you were not lucky enough to get one.
http://ebm.e.starbucks.com/c/tag/hBRXxguAJvkyvB8xyiSB4Rlbwzd/doc.html?t_params=&utm_source=msr&utm_medium=email&utm_content=hosted&utm_campaign=msi-5yrann-nooffer
I just remembered….. I too am using 2 different email addresses for both my msi and card accounts. I did receive the same email with a gift of $5 added to my card.
I must be out a favor again, no $5 bonus ;0(
@DadCooks – Where it says “Visit mystarbucksidea…..” in the center of your email, it doesn’t say that on mine. It says Redeem with a code to login to. It gives you an option to print a coupon or transfer $5 to your card.
BTW – You’re always in favor with somebody if not Starbucks.
@DadCooks – You are in favor with me! Here’s another version of the article. There are a number of things in it that are a downer to read, and/or annoying. And not that Joe LaCugana seems to insult Howard Schultz in this article by saying he has no head for numbers. And seems to totally disrespect previous data collected by store managers. And quips about loyal customers, “Why would we give them a discount?” – I just don’t like the overall tone of the article. it’s not an uplifting Starbucks experience: http://adage.com/article/data-at-work/starbucks-data-pours/240502/
I didn’t get the $5 either. Haven’t gotten very many specials. I know a friend got a reward loaded onto his gold card for $2 off espresso bev, and mine was $1 off. There have a couple of different articles out there that the Starbucks loyalty card isn’t about loyalty at all – http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/technology/willardfoxton2/100009000/starbuckss-disloyalty-card-ignores-regular-customers-are-uk-supermarkets-playing-a-similar-game/ – I hope there is more to the story than that. At least for me, that is a bit of a disappointment to read because it essentially does seem to suggest that I’m not appreciated if I am hyper loyal to Starbucks. Hmmm.
Sorry about that Melody. But hey…. You are blessed to get some really good opportunities that some of us can only dream about. Never forget that. Somebody must like you.
me, too. ($5.00)
At this very moment, ideas are popping up almost continuously on msi. They are a minute or 2 apart. I recall this happening at least once before. Can anybody say “Bored Troll”?
My bad! Maybe it’s the email that has everybody coming to msi today!
Just my opinion but idea #34 on the infographic “Happy Hour” is anything but Happy for the baristas. Its 2 hours of pure hell on the cold bev station, especially in a DT store with cars ordering 4-5 fraps per car. Wait times are ridic. The best part of happy hour is the music and when 5p rolls around. I am dreading it yet again this year. Its so good for business which is why it continues but its so hard, you can only make so many drinks at one time and people just aren’t patient enough it seems anymore.
On the whole I think MSI has been successful in getting a lot of great things launched for the customers but agree its bigger than it needs to be.
Oh yes. I think I heard a rumor that Frappuccino Happy Hour returns in May. I don’t recall when. I personally almost never take advantage of it – I am just not *that* in love with Frappuccinos. Not all stores are high Frappuccino sales stores. I’d hate to imagine what some stores in California are like though (probably just as you described in many places in the US!) ! I know it sounds silly, but I sometimes notice that some stores are quieter than others because the blenders aren’t always going all the time.
I visit and contribute to the partner version of the website monthly. I am glad that I don’t have to deal with the trolling issues you all speak to but do wish that the other site was more moderated. I’d do it (just incase MSI has been looking for a new partner)!!!!
I once liked MSI, but of late it is more like a place were people pick apart and berate anyone who posts an idea. The formula seems to be there is a new person, lets tell them how they have no right to want that, how ignorant they are, why it can’t be done, and how entitled they feel.
@Michael – I kind of get what you’re saying. People get really fixed and rigid in their opinions in the comments, as if Starbucks will never do things another way. Starbucks is the king of change.
When MSI was new, there were moderators, and the moderators wrote more than canned answers to multiple threads on one topic. And there were no down votes when the site was brand new. But mostly, I think they’d benefit from having more moderators.
In any case, between being busy with this blog, busy with work, writing a book, and even having some computer problems at home, it’s been very tough for me to find much time for MSI.