I was in Starbucks this morning (Venti Americano – just milk) and it struck me. As I looked at the environment inside I couldn’t help but see the digital version of this cafe within a twitter or Facebook like setting.
What struck me is how the staff really make the difference here. The staff at this particular location are highly interactive with the customers and this creates a far friendlier atmosphere. The customers got to know each other and the tables come together easily resulting in broad and wonderful discussions with people of all sorts. Their attitude is infectious and it is the same in their Social Media presence.
What Makes Starbucks Naturally Successful?
In my mind, Starbucks has the winning formula for success in Social Media, but they had it before Social Media became hot. They have a social brand. And it isn’t just the cafe setting and the friendly staff. Here are some other social traits they have going for them.
- Alignment and tremendous real involvement with the Green Movement
- A social approach to customer service enabling them to connect with almost any customer in an emotional way
- Affordable quality in all of their products making them huge with GenXers in particular
- An internal culture that is naturally social and this comes out in how well they are able to connect with the community they are in the customers they serve.
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So I started following Starbucks on Twitter and it is absolutely fascinating. They have taken what they do so well in their cafe and have very successfully reproduced it on Twitter. Here you have a number of staff tasked with making every single person that comes into the Twitter channel feel good.
So now, I’m going to start looking at other brands that I believe are Naturally Social and see how they are doing in Social Media environments. Is there a set of best practices for example that can be learned from these great companies?
If you know of any that are exemplary of Naturally Social Brands, then please let me know.
Cheers!
Jeff – Sensei
Jeff, very good post. Although I’m not a fan of Starbucks coffee I do concur with you that their brand values easily translate to a social media environment. Other brands that could, IMHO, translate and thrive in a social media universe include include Harley Davidson, Hollister and Ben & Jerrys. My own research on powerful brand communities show a strong correlation between social media popularity, shared interest & ethos and member connectedness.
Comment by Mitchell Osak — March 22, 2010 @ 2:39 pm
Thanks Mitch. I think there is an opportunity to create brand role models or the very least identify transferable traits for other companies, even in unrelated industries, to adopt/integrate into their own approach. Jeep is another example that comes to mind along with the companies you identified of a company that could be successful in SoMe if they could figure out a way to transfer their customer passions to an online platform.
Thanks for the feedback and pointing out of those brands. Not enough time in the day to cover everything!
Cheers!
Jeff – Sensei
Comment by Jeff — March 22, 2010 @ 4:39 pm