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July 16, 2004
Starbucks Road Trip
Meet Starbucks' ultimate customer evangelist: John Winter Smith.
His quest is to visit every company-owned store in the world. That's 4,025 stores in the U.S. and 846 internationally.
As Fortune magazine explains, Winter (as he likes to be called) has been on his journey seven years, and he's sipped lattes at 4,122 North American stores, (including some that have since closed), 114 in Britain, and 53 in Japan.
The reaction from Starbucks? Not much. They sent him Howard Schultz's book and a few Starbucks mugs a while back. A spokeswoman calls the quest "flattering."
Flattering?
Ultimate evangelists like Winter don't turn up every day. He's generating lots of favorable press on his own. Starbucks should embrace Winter in every conceivable way. Promote his visits. Lend him a car with the Starbucks logo on the side. (Winter sleeps in his old car with no air conditioning when he goes on his frequent Starbucks road trips.) He's authentic, not a schlocky spokesthing. Make him a hero.
Starbucks, your Jared is here.
[Thanks to Andy Whitman at 2xManagement and Dave M. for the heads up on the story.]
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It appears to me that unlike Jared who used Subway to help better himself, "Winter" uses Starbucks to promote himself.
When I first read this article, I also thought to myself "why doesn't Starbucks do more to encourage him?", but then I started thinking that if Starbucks did do things like give him a car, etc.. it wouldn't be as authentic anymore. The fact that this guy is doing all this without any payback or support is what makes this story interesting. He has no incentive to do it, yet he does it anyway. If Starbucks started giving him things, then he would stop being an evangelist and start being just another Starbucks employee. It's not evangelism if you're paid to do it. Customer Evangelism is about love, not money.
The point of the post was not that Starbucks should "pay" him with gifts. It was that they are missing out on a nice buzz opportunity here.
The guy is an authentic freaky dude about Starbucks. So why not use humor to get some nice PR? For example:
* have Howard Schultz ride along with him to visit some of the Starbucks
* host a blog for him on Starbucks.com to chronicle his journey
* donate money to charity for each Starbucks location he visits
It's about acknowledging the evangelism, not paying him off.
What's do most surveys say employees want from their employers more than money?
Recognition.
Yet many employers cringe at the idea. Good work is rewarded with money, not notoriety, the Dilbertized bosses say.
Is Winter something of a self-promoter? Probably. His quest to visit every Starbucks store on the planet (and on future planets) isn't a secret. The first people who set out to accomplish completely irrational goals like climbing Mt. Everest didn't do it in secret, either.
It's unreasonable to expect that all of your most vocal and authentic customer evangelists are the quiet and shy types (except when it comes to your company, of course). Like many evangelists, Winter is "Beyond Thunderdome" devoted. His self-funded journey is to do something remarkable for something he obviously believes in, and that involves a certain amount of self-promotion. That's part of the appeal.
To question his motives, then, is unwarranted.
A little recognition by Starbucks would be good for the company and Winter.
Encourage him. Cheer him on.
Besides Jackie's ideas, Starbucks could devote a slice of its website to Winter's quest.
It could provide how-to instructions to undertake your own quest locally or regionally.
It could give Winter a video camera and encourage him to document his travels. Maybe he'll surprise everyone with some flashes of insight about the diversity of the world and its love of Starbucks.
Great story. I'd love it if a customer of ours decided, on their own and even if they're doing it out of boredom, to visit a customer of ours in every state!
I'd give them more than a cup of Starbucks coffee!
A few messages:
To Howard Shultz, what price can you put on such loyalty, enthusiasm? A 7 year sojorn to visit every store you own. Have YOU visited every store? And you give him your book? Dude, he already loves you.
Starbucks, come on. Show some love. He has. He's generated on a dollar basis better PR than your expensive AD team has. Think about hiring him.
Do a book about him. Chronicle his visits. Bring him to the home office. Have a parade for him. Put him on with Katie and Matt.
But give him something more than couple of mugs and a book by the owner.
As long as he is telling reporters that he can barely stomach his requisite 1/2 cup of coffee per store and that it's making him sick - a spokesperson he does not make.
Jackie, I like your idea of the Howard Schultz ride along.
FYI, Food Network's Unwrapped had a segment on Winter in their Food Fanatics show (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_cw/episode/0,1976,FOOD_9955_22105,00.html). It replayed last night, but you may be able to catch it again. He also has his own blog with an amazing level of detail about his visits http://www.starbuckseverywhere.net.
Paul, my doctor keeps telling me that caffeine is bad for me. :)
Ben, that leaves you with two options:
- switch to decaf
- switch doctors
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Great! I would say its one of the best!!
Hey folks ! I'm flying over to LOndon in 1 week. Anyone konws good plans for clubbing in London?
I think Ben and Jackie both have some valid ideas, and some ideas that completely miss the mark here.
The story is that he's not affiliated with the company. The closer the affiliation/relationship, the less reporters want to write about it. (I've witnessed this first hand in my evanglist role) To provide an official presence on the Starbucks Web site could be good, could be bad. There's as much chance that doing that would immediately kill any buzz from the media or consumers as there is that it would help.
And who is this guy? Is he someone you actually WANT to talk about your company? Sometimes a clear seperation between the person doing the event and getting publicity for it, and the company is a good thing. Especially, as mentioned, if he's telling people that he can't stand coffee anymore.
Clearly, companies don't understand why customer evangelism is important and how amazing it can be. But it's also not something to go blindly into.
starbuckets didn't lend that guy a car
