Starbucks Turns Its Promotional Muscle Towards Films
from the lifestyle-indeed dept
It's no secret that Starbucks wants to move well beyond its image as a ubiquitous "coffee" shop into much more of a "lifestyle" brand. The company has been getting much more involved in entertainment lately, and found success promoting music CDs, such as those by Ray Charles and Bob Dylan. The latest, however, is that the company is harnessing its promotional power for a new film. First, they'll avoid the big posters and cardboard cutouts of stars that you might be expecting. Instead, they're going to send most of their employees to special pre-screenings of the movie to generate word of mouth buzz. There will be some in-store promotions, but they'll be more subtle. Frequent customers can win tickets as well. The cardboard cupholders will advertise the film, as will the WiFi splash page for those who use Starbucks' WiFi. And, of course, the store will sell the soundtrack and (eventually) the DVD of the movie. That's quite a lot of effort, so you probably won't be surprised to find out that this isn't just about the studio giving Starbucks a lump sum. Instead, the company gets a piece of just about everything: "an undisclosed percentage of all box office sales, merchandise sales, TV revenues and soundtrack and DVD sales -- even from non-Starbucks retail locations." While a Starbucks spokesperson claims "it is important to note that we are not investing in films," that's really just semantics. They are very much investing in the film -- just not cash. They're investing their considerable promotional muscle for a percentage of the take. That certainly seems like investing -- but it may also make you wonder if you can really trust the movie recommendations you get as you stand in line for your next Venti Latte or whatever you're supposed to call the "coffee" they serve there these days.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Ssssooo....
At the same time they sue the hell of some grandpa who's grandson downloaded couple of films they already owned on DVD..
Oh the irony...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Crack?
The studios don't need MORE promotion. They need better business practices. I don't know of anybody that isn't aware of what movies are playing.
Nobody that I know avoids the theaters because they don't know what is playing. They avoid the theaters because either the movie sucks gay cowboy ass, or the movie just isn't worth the money and effort of see in a public theater.
The movies that happen to be worth the trouble are few and far between in my book, and as an economist, I can say that there are a lot of people who agree with me (if not for the exact same reasons, they at least agree that it isn�t worth going to the theater).
Those MBA's and investors in Hollywood need to pull out their first year economics text books and remind themselves how "utility" works (http://www.investopedia.com/university/economics/economics5.asp).
And re-think the way they are conducting business.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Crack?
My sentiments exactly!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Crack?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Crack?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: No Subject Given
So, let's see if I have this right...
Starbucks has sex with other Starbucks of the same gender despite being asexual and inanimate? That's some task indeed... Unless of course you meant it in the "jovial" sense of the word :D
-----
Anyway, I usually only go there for the iced tea while I'm looking at books at the book store (Chapters has Starbucks built-in like Wal Mart has McDonald's built-in), but I can't really say that this will work out too well... Most people seem to be far too concerned with getting their shit and getting out before the pretentiousness gets to them...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: No Subject Given
How else do explain the growing number of starbucks? They have to come from somewhere.
Back to the original point, there is no way that a coffee shop is going to influence what movies I see. First of all, I refuse to go to a theater do to outragious prices, crappy seats and that freakin guy that sits behind you and talks the entire movie. If you don't know who that guy is, it is YOU. Second, there hasn't been a "must see" new release that I couldn't wait for the DVD to come out. the studios need to stop worrying about advertising and start consentrating on quality. enough said.
ONe more thing: Gay Cowboys? Where was the pudding? I thought all gay cowboys ate pudding.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yeehaw!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yeehaw!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yeehaw!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yeehaw!
But alas, I chose "gay cowboy ass" since Hollywood recently featured a movie that is something along those lines, and gay cowboy ass sucking is funnier than sucking in general.
By the looks of it, most people understand that.
:)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Yeehaw!
Ok take Gay out of the equation the movie Still Sucked!
"By the looks of it, most people understand that."
I knew what you were trying to convey ;)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Yeehaw!
Re: Crack?
by Anonymous Coward
I hate it when things turn for the gay.
and
No Subject Given
by m4ch1n3ofh8
Starbuck is gay anyways. They'll do anything to gay themselves out.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Starbucko Studios
Small record stores should start selling coffee so they can keep the butts in business!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Apples and Oranges
However with this movie, while the actors my be known names, we all know that many a know actor has made a stinker of a film or three.
I like the idea of Starbucks doing the CDs. It was like "hey, you like our coffee, you'll probably like these tunes..." Not TOO much of a stretch there. They know their audience.
With films it's a whole different thing altogether. Risky? You bet! If the film's a stinker or no one shows up, their rep as an advisor or "tastefuly cool things" is tarnished if not destroyed.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Apples and Oranges
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Apples and Oranges
Heck, I would see a crappy movie if I could go with my friends on somebody elses $
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Dumb enough
[ link to this | view in chronology ]