By Emily Lacy (@emstheticket)
Despite what the movies might feed you (hello, childhood full of Disney!), if you’ve been part of a romantic duo that lasted beyond the initial hormonal flash in the pan, you know the truth about long-term, serious relationships: they take work.
The beginning of every new relationship is exciting, filled with new discoveries and adorable quirks. Even the laugh-snort is cute in the beginning, but eventually things calm down. We are human beings, and we crave stability and comfort. If you really like a person and the two of you have built up a base of happy, consistently good times together, they inevitably become part of your own personal ritual. Here’s where things start to get tricky. Because as much as we crave consistency, want the familiar, and become wary or annoyed at the thought of surprise, the routine gets stale.
What are we to do once the rollercoaster gives way to the lazy river? If you really want to know how to make it work, stop asking your best friend and ask Howard Schultz instead.
My relationship with Starbucks began fast and furious. There was so much to try, and it was a reliably great part of my day; thus, delight became routine and like so many others before me, I fell into a comfortable long-term relationship with Starbucks. It knows what I like and it gives it to me. In fact, Starbucks and I are coming up on our six-year anniversary. But that routinely happy, warm feeling isn’t the only reason the relationship isn’t waning. Routine on its own is not enough. A successful long-term relationship with a brand embodies a combination of the ritual and the unexpected.
During the year I wore the green apron, things got a little slow in the store from time to time. It was during these times that my shift manager Rosie would say, “Let’s try something new.” We’d brew a French press of a new coffee, grab a few pastries, and do experimental pairings. It was an unexpected delight during a time I could have been sipping my usual. If you happen to be in the mood for something new, Starbucks offers the same opportunities for exploration to its customers that it offers to its employees. In all the years I’ve known the brand, I am always impressed with the way they’ve been able to constantly make new something as simple and habitual as coffee.
Recently, Starbucks offered me a taste of a new fruity line of beverages, Starbucks Refreshers, which employ the energy of green, unroasted coffee beans through Green Coffee Extract. My reaction: “I didn’t even know you could do that.” In a long-term relationship, could you hope for a better reaction? Now, I’m not really into that sort of thing, but just knowing it’s there and that I can try it if I want is exciting.
This morning, when I had a few extra minutes and felt adventurous, I was given a cup of one of their Reserve coffees brewed in a machine called the Clover. Leave it to Starbucks to introduce me to new brewing technology after years of the same. It’s an amazing cup of coffee, rich, smooth, deep and loaded with caffeine. It added a completely new dimension to my relationship with coffee, and with Starbucks. I’ll have it again, maybe even tomorrow.
Great brands consistently deliver on the experience and values you’ve always loved them for, but they also work every single day to win you over, all over again. I crave my routine and the familiarity Starbucks offers me each morning—nine times out of 10, I’ll order my usual and walk away satisfied. But that blend of the routine and the new, of consistency and the occasional surprise, the feeling that they genuinely want to keep me around and will put in the work needed to make our relationship interesting, is the reason I’m in it for the long haul.
Images courtesy of Starbucks and NY Times.
Emily is a senior brand strategist who loves branding and all the opportunities, growth and differentiation it offers to organizations, big and small. As a member of the CRT/tanaka team, she focuses on brand identity and strategy, branding campaigns, re-branding initiatives, and brand implementation and experience development. She specializes in helping clients uncover the truths within their organization that make them stand out in the marketplace, and then finding ways for those truths to shine through the organization’s every touch point to connect with consumers. Emily joins CRT/tanaka from Sid Lee, a Montréal ad agency, where she worked on accounts like Smirnoff and adidas. Her past work has been in brand strategy, copywriting and account service. A 2010 graduate of VCU’s nationally renowned Brandcenter graduate program, Emily holds a master’s degree in mass communications. She also earned degrees in drama and psychology from the University of Virginia. She interned at Cramer-Krasselt in Chicago and served as a student brand consultant for Urban Outfitters, Inc., developing branding initiatives for its newest brand, Leifsdottir. When she isn’t uncovering brand truths, Emily loves geocaching, replicating her friends’ Facebook photos with watercolors, and writing songs for guitar and piano. Her interests include food and wine, Doc Holliday, and attending Burning Man.
Nice post, Em! My relationship with Starbucks is just like you characterized it — the initial love high wore off years ago, and now some things about the place actually ANNOY me. Like the cookie cutter pumpkin scones doused in icing – ugh. What ever happened to those house-made cinnamon scones I lived on in high school? Bring them back!!
But, the bottom line is that — whether in an airport, hotel or shopping center — I always know what I’m getting at Starbucks …and I can count on them to meet certain standards. It’s a low-risk arrangement, and that’s worth a lot in my book.
Great post! I am a former Barista myself! It was my first high school job (outside of babysitting) and I worked there for about five years. I have to say working there made me even more of an avid customer. I think often times people feel the opposite once they work somewhere, but I really valued the training and time they take to foster their employees. By doing this, they help create employees who care about their product and customers just as much as they do, and I definitely think it shows.
I do love how they “switch” it up and trying new things is always fun. I used to make up drinks that weren’t on the menu and it’s funny to see them show up on the menu now. I do miss the tazo tea frappucinos though! I wish they would bring those back.
Thanks for sharing Emily!
Emily, this is a great article. Every time I travel, my reward for going through security at the airport is a Starbucks latte! Maybe I will have to branch out and try something new next time!
The ability of a brand to consistently deliver the quality and popping up a few surprises only for the better, is what makes it successful and craved for. Consistent quality work with occasional surprise will always lure in more customers.
It’s truly very complicated in this active life to listen news on TV, so I simply use the web for that purpose, and take the newest news.