Creative Criminals

This idea was developed by the Berghs School of Communication in Sweden. It looks like a nice opportunity for Starbucks to connect their product to the act of waking up in the morning. What do you think about it?

Located in the storefronts of two Starbucks, one in Vancouver and one in Toronto, the user guides a creature of their choosing (hummingbird, dragonfly or butterfly) on an adventure to find all the ingredients unique to each of the three Tazo teas currently being promoted by Starbucks.

This reminds us of the classic battle between Audi and BMW. In this case Coca-Cola bought a shop window next to a Starbucks. The poster in the window reads “Who has time to stand in line for a latte?”. Not sure if Starbucks is a direct competitor for Diet Coke, but is sure is a nice example of smart media buying.

Starbucks’ new campaign is called Snowflakes, where New Yorkers are flying snowflake kites in the skies above New York City. The ad in its various forms shows people flying , several sipping on their Starbucks cheer. A typical, yet succesful feel-good campaign during Christmas.

Everybody knows the traditional cups from Starbucks, through the years they became an icon for the company. But the big problem with these cups is they are made out of paper, and using paper means chopping down trees. Now Starbucks wants to show they do care about the environment, so they are encouraging customers to move towards using reusable mugs (the so called tumblers). To raise awareness about their “Big Picture” project Starbucks invited thousands of people to exchange their cups for reusable tumblers. With the cardboard cups filled with coffee they created an enormous tree on March 17 and 18 in New York City. During this event, 5,000 individuals pledged to continue using tumblers.
Customers can visit the website to enjoy a behind-the-scenes video and learn more about actions they can take. You can sign a pledge for yourself if you want to.