Wake up and smell the coffee

The use of the increasingly iconic red cup as a Christmas symbol, coupled with the launch of seasonal Latte varieties such as Toffee Nut and Egg Nog, has become a very effective engagement campaign since its first use in 1998. Combined this year with the sponsorship of Britain’s growing number of winter ice rinks, Starbucks is demonstrating once more its excellence in creating an omni-channel brand experience.

 

However, at another level, people’s exposure to the Starbucks brand has included a much less positive dimension over the past fortnight. The furore over tax avoidance in the UK has demonstrated again that in the era of social media and corporate transparency, consumers judge an organisation not just by the value created by its products and services, but also by the values and behaviours of the company itself. 
 

I have to profess my loyalties here. Ever since the early days of its uniquely smoke-free environment, I have been a Starbucks zealot and I’ve certainly spent my share of time and money in their cafes over the years. From everything I’ve seen and heard about them, both as a consumer and in business terms, my sense is that they have the customer’s interest at heart at least as much as any other business out there.
 

 In today’s world, though, businesses have to take a broader view of their responsibilities, beyond the interests of their immediate customers and shareholders to those of the broader societies and economies in which they operate. The challenge facing Starbucks and all other businesses in the digital era is that to be an effective marketing organisation, excellence in functional brand-building activities is no longer enough. With consumers now so clearly in the driving seat, the values and ethics of organisations will be tested like never before. 
 

This calls for marketers to play a different role in their businesses going forward. Their duty has always been to bring the outside in and align the company’s offerings with the needs of its customers. The difference is that this leadership role now extends to a higher level, to help ensure that  brand values and promises are truly reflected in the ethics, culture and activities of the organisations behind them. 
 

Starbucks has learnt its lesson the hard way these past few weeks, along with some other leading businesses like Google, eBay and Amazon. The question is whether other companies will put their own houses in order before being hit by equally damaging PR issues themselves.