starbucks

Coffee aromas can increase arousal and cognitive performance.

We've seen a variety of disastrous web design trends over the years. Remember splash pages? All-Flash sites? Frames? We may be on the cusp of a new trend: unstyled ugliness.

I had quite a few posts at my Brainy Marketing blog at Forbes.com get shared extensively this year - here are 2013's "biggest hits:" Starbucks: Loyalty Program Misfire Starbucks is great at marketing, but they did find a way to really…

Loyalty and rewards programs can be great motivators. When a business rewards the behavior they want from their customers - say, giving them a free coffee after they consume nine - they encourage that behavior. The most potent loyalty…

Starbucks knows a thing or two about loyalty. I'm a Gold Card member, and enjoy the free refills as well as the periodic free drinks I accrue by using it. (Green Card members get the refill benefit, but not the free beverage after every…

Starbucks has changed a lot in the last six months, at least in the digital world. First, they finally ditched their paid-only Wifi and went to a free system that requires only one-click acceptance of their terms of use. Then, a few…

Marketable business ideas often have two key characteristics: simplicity, and a way of categorizing products, brands, or companies. The Boston Matrix, for example, launched armies of strategy consultants who neatly fit businesses into…

Way back in 2005, in Can Caffeine Brain Boost Help Ad Recall?, I suggested that Starbucks could sell potent ads on their cups. This idea, though tongue-in-cheek in nature, was based on fMRI research that showed caffeine stimulated areas…

Here's a scenario... You decide to venture into a cell phone store despite your reluctance to deal with a bewildering number of phones, options, plans, along with a confusing price structure. As usual, you find you'll have to wait a bit for…

I've written about sensory branding, olfactory marketing, and in particular Starbucks' attempt to get more coffee aroma into its stores. Now, it seems that all you need to get you going in the morning is a whiff of coffee aroma: Wake up…