Tata Starbucks, the leading chain of coffeehouses is a beacon for coffee lovers everywhere. With over 185 stores across 11 cities and a loyal base of ~300,000 daily customers across India, Starbucks counts on ‘Human Connections’ as one of its strongest brand pillars.
Amidst the COVID-19 lockdown, the challenge for Tata Starbucks was to connect with their customers in this time of crisis. To rekindle the Tata Starbucks position of being a ‘Third Place’ in the mind of its consumers, a campaign was devised under the name: #ReconnectWithStarbucks. The purpose? To reaffirm their relationship with customers, partners (employees) and the communities they are a part of and be a positive voice in times like this.
The campaign was rolled out in two phases – the first phase comprised of the brand inviting followers and coffee enthusiasts under quarantine, to share their favorite Starbucks memory, hobby or passion using the hashtag #ReconnectWithStarbucks on their Instagram accounts. For the second phase called ‘Cup Half-Full’, Starbucks encouraged its followers on Instagram to share the name of their favorite beverage. In return, Starbucks surprised them with personalized voice notes of its partners (baristas) calling out the customer’s name with their favorite beverage – a Starbucks ritual cherished by all its customers!