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Starbucks’ “Are You In” Campaign
 I was struck by one ad in particular during President Obama’s Inauguration ceremony – Starbucks’ Are You In. I’ve talked to people who loved it and others who hated it and thought I’d add my 2 cents …
I loved it!
If you’re not familiar with the ad in question you can watch the long version online. It was (I believe) the first  spot to run after the ceremony on several network and online broadcasts, a primo position to ensure viewers. After all, almost 38 million people watched the ceremony on TV according to Nielsen and another 30+ million are estimated to have watched online (CNN claims 27 million views on their web sites alone.)
The spot promoted volunteerism, calling for a “grass roots movement” to get people to sign up between Jan 21 and 25 to volunteer for 5 hours of community service. In return, they get a free Starbucks coffee. The goal: get folks to pledge 1 million hours of volunteer time between Inauguration and the end of the year. According to the pledge web site, they’re over 1.2 million hours so far.
Now, whatever altruistic intentions Starbucks sincerely had, there was of course a business goal behind the ad as well: drive traffic to their stores. There’s nothing wrong with that. Sure, you got a free regular coffee if you signed up to volunteer, but a large percentage of people walking in to claim that cup of java would also “upgrade” to a latte and/or buy a muffin or something else. With store sales down sharply because of the recession, it was a relatively inexpensive way to generate store traffic and incremental sales, along with doing some good.
Beyond the expected sneers about the ad being self-serving for Starbucks, most of the criticism I’ve heard  focuses on the 1970s creative used. I thought it was brilliant. They married a retro feel with a catchy, modern tune -- Grassroots Movement by MC Yogi, which you can download here (right click, Save As). The combination was both up-to-date and brought you back to better days at the same time. It left you feeling good. I also loved that you had no idea who was behind the ad until the very end, when the Starbucks reveal occurred. It was fun trying to figure out who the ad was for while it was playing. I definitely had an “ah ha” moment at the end.
The themes of the ad – it is all about “a brighter day,” along with “hope”, “change” and “unity” – were obviously a perfect match for president Obama’s message that day. Airing the spot immediately after the inauguration guaranteed not only very high viewership but helped it ride the wave of the day and build on peoples’ good mood that day and their high hopes for the new administration.
And to cap it all off, the ad went on to have an “Oprah Effect”. Oprah not only devoted quite a bit of airtime time to the campaign during her show the following day but she even sent a camera crew and a “correspondent” out to interview people at a local Starbucks in D.C. about their plans for community service pledges. You can’t buy that kind of publicity and impact.
 And it seems this kind of giveaway marketing could be growing into a trend of sorts. During this week’s Super Bowl, Denny’s ran a 30-second spot called “Thugs” that offered everyone (literally, “everyone in America”) who came to one of their restaurants on Tuesday between 6 am and 2 pm a free Grand Slam breakfast. (A Grand Slam is apparently a pretty substantial meal: two pancakes, two eggs, two sausage links, and two pieces of bacon if you’re interested.)
The creative wasn't nearly as well done as the Starbucks ad but the message of a decent, filling and free meal would surely resonate with a lot of people in this economy. I haven’t seen the actual results of the promotion yet but I have seen a lot news coverage (more free publicity) of people waiting in line to get into a Denny’s on the day of the promotion. The company expected the ad to drive 1.5 million visits to their 1,500 stores on Tuesday, a five-fold increase over normal traffic! And, while it might sound like an expensive marketing campaign, apparently Denny’s would break even if every visitor ordered just 1 cup of $2 coffee or juice with their free meal. I didn’t realize diner margins were that good! I wonder how many people who hadn’t stepped into a Denny’s for years took them up on their offer and will come back for more?
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