Pedaling Frappuccinos
Aahh, there’s nothing quite like an ice-cold beverage to quench your thirst on a hot summer day. Starbucks knows that fact all too well. In a nod to the dog days of summer and non-coffee drinkers, the company rolled out new fruit-flavored Frappuccinos backed by a host of promotions.
From its stores to the streets, the Seattle-based coffee chain is spreading the word about its latest juice blend creations — the Pomegranate Frappuccino and the Tangerine Frappuccino, which are made with fruit juice and Tazo tea — giving away millions of samples of the drink.
Starbucks is one of a handful of chains that have joined the roster of brands marketing to the non-coffee drinking audience. Dunkin’ Donuts and Coldstone Creamery this year launched their own line of fruit smoothies.
“We look for ways to innovate and satisfy our customers,” Brad Stevens, Starbucks VP-marketing for Retail North America, says. “Whether it’s music or movies, we’re constantly looking for ways to meet consumers’ needs and [tastes]. We’re always looking for something new and different.”
To hype up its new offerings, which launched June 27, Starbucks baristas are cruising around the country on Fender-Blender bikes, pedal-powered stationary bikes fitted with a juice blender. Customers see first hand how the drink is made. In Chicago, Starbucks held a Great Bike Blend Off in June, in which some of the city’s elite bike messengers faced off to create the Starbucks Frappuccino juice blends. Winners received prizes ranging from Starbucks cards to a new messenger bike. More than 30 Fender-Blender bikes will appear at festivals, concerts, street fairs and community events throughout the summer.
“Starbucks has a reputation for being an unconventional marketer,” Stevens says. “Our main marketing vehicle/channel is our store. We look for fun ways to engage the customer. We rely on word-of-mouth tactics (think plugs by Starbucks baristas). This is a way Starbucks has grown.”
Frappuccinos aren’t new for Starbucks. The company began selling the coffee-based drinks in 1995 and later branched out to include other flavors, including caramel, vanilla bean and its fruit-based flavor strawberries and cream in 2004. Starbucks’ recent launch comes in response to customer requests and a desire to round out the chain’s menu offering, Stevens says.
While Stevens acknowledges that Starbucks is targeting consumers young and old with the new drinks, he says the company isn’t specifically going after kids, but instead a wide demographic to give customers new beverage options.
“Our [new] beverages meet a…need for customers,” Stevens says. “Our menu has balanced offerings. It really rounds out what we can offer people in the summertime.”
Starbucks is following up on its earlier launch this year of its Banana Coconut Frappuccino blended coffee and Bananas & Crème Frappuccino blended crème beverages, distributing more than 500,000 Summer Sunshine Cards to customers in store and via direct mail and street teams. Recipients are asked to pass the card to a friend or a stranger who does something nice. The card is good for a free Banana Frappuccino at Starbucks.
In May, Starbucks celebrated the impending summer season doling out 90,000 fresh bananas and samples of the new beverages to customers in more than 21 cities nationwide to build excitement about the product. The Banana Frappuccino beverages will be available at Starbucks stores through Aug. 30.
