Though deals such as a half-off gift card are nothing new, Starbucks's use of LivingSocial is a great illustration of why the brand continues to be a leader in social media as well as the larger digital landscape. By leveraging LivingSocial (as opposed to Groupon) for this marketing deal, Starbucks masterfully executed the first two stages of John Caples' seven stage process. Not only did the deal grab and hold customers' attention, but there was a ripple effect as news of the discount spread through users' social networks. The brand was also able to easily work through the remaining five stages in Caples's process by setting the price point to create desire, making the deal believable and easy to purchase by using LivingSocial, and of course, creating a sense of urgency by making it available for a limited time.
Starbucks certainly didn't need to offer the deal to get people in its doors, but by doing so, it showed why it's a digital leader. It presented its customers with a value proposition too good to ignore and made it easily shareable by choosing the right partner in LivingSocial. As of this post, the Starbucks Facebook page had received a combined 17,890 likes and 763 comments on its September 4th and 5th posts regarding the offer as well as 3,698 shares. Of course, these numbers don't take into account customers who posted content to their Facebook pages ... or tweets ... or other channels, so I'm sure the final numbers are staggering.
Big, established brands would be wise to follow Starbucks lead (the effectiveness of Groupon and LivingSocial for small businesses is up for debate). As this case study goes to show, even something as basic as a coupon can travel a long way in the digital world.
I was definitely one the people to buy this! Actually, I bought 3 and then I told everyone else about it! I learned about the deal from facebook, and once I purchased it, I shared it on my wall and more people purchased. Like we read in week 1, social media is a good way to find out about news or events. If it wasn't for facebook, I probably wouldn't even know that this deal exists. And now I get to enjoy half off on Pumpkin Spice Latte...yummy!
ReplyDeleteMartyna, I'm curious, do you click on your friend's link on Facebook or did you independently visit the LivingSocial website to purchase the deal? And were you able to get any of your purchases for free by sharing your custom LivingSocial URL? LivingSocial has a big advantage over Groupon largely because it rewards its consumers for the actions of their customers' social networks, so we're encouraged to share and talk about the great deals we've received. And if there's something we like better than a discount, it's something that is free.
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