The top execs at Starbucks haven’t always made the right moves. After the hubris-fueled development of stores on every corner, hundreds were forced to close in the face of the recession. And does anyone remember the Hear Music enterprise they launched in 2006? THAT endeavor got swept under the rug nicely!  But there are two things Starbucks definitely does well (and unfortunately, making coffee isn’t actually one of them). Starbucks is a master at providing the “make yourself at home” experience, and lately, has been making some truly stunning marketing decisions.

Starbucks has already deftly employed the call to action. I was among the hoards that flocked to Starbucks because the promise of free pastry was broadcast on twitter.  But the latest news courtesy of Mashable has me floored at the sheer GENIUS of this company.  Most stores in Boston offer free wifi (I have even sought refuge in a Starbucks when my internet was out for a seemingly interminable three days), and by Fall franchises across the country will too.

Can you see the content marketing relevance already? By providing this service for free, Starbucks is giving the boundless gift of the internet to its customers, in turn encouraging them to stay that little bit longer, to make themselves feel all the more at home. Why not sit back with a latte and a scone and facebook to your heart’s content? Starbucks’ doctrine is to create that “third place” away from home and work where you feel secure and at ease. Now that third place has free wifi. Even those poor souls without iPhones will still be able to tweet!

But that isn’t the genius part. Mashable reports that Starbucks has teamed up with the likes of Apple and the New York Times to provide exclusive marketing content that will ONLY be available via the Starbucks wifi network.

Mind. Blown. Poof.

What we have here is bordering on mythical: the possibility of the endless Win chain. Customers get wifi for free. Win. Starbucks attracts and retains customers for longer stretches. Win. Customers gain access to exclusive content, including iTunes downloads. Win again. Corporate collaborators pique consumer interest by giving a glimpse of premium goods. Win.  Maybe one customer will actually be willing to pay for restricted New York Times content? Maybe another will “rush” to the iTunes store to purchase an album after listening to a single track? Or maybe they’ll both be happy to keep returning to Starbucks for these free little snippets. Even if conversion rates aren’t great for the big guns giving up content, Starbucks can still profit shamelessly from their content marketing attempts.

There is, however, one final step to be discussed in a board room somewhere.  Making sure those websurfers actually BUY something. I’ll leave it to corporate to work out that one. Might I recommend using the smell of freshly baked cookies as a strategic sales tool? It works for selling houses…

Are you giving your customers access to something exclusive? Does doing business with you have definite, quantifiable perks? If you ARE  reading this at Starbucks, maybe you should start brainstorming.

Nicola Fairhead is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments. WriterAccess is powered by ideaLaunch, a full service content marketing agency serving hundreds of clients and thousands of writers since 2000.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 12th, 2010 at 12:10 pm and is filed under Content Creation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.