I found out by way of Frank Barnako’s blog that Episode 3 of Starbucks Coffee Conversations Podcast will be the company’s last. Since launching its podcast, Starbucks has received nothing but poor reviews.
I said to myself, “It can’t be that bad,” until I went to iTunes, subscribed and then listened to all 3 episodes.
Slit my wrists, please.
The hosts, Scott McMartin, Director of Coffee Education and Aileen Carrell, Manager of Green Coffee Sustainability, were dead boring. Poor Scott didn’t even sound as if he wanted to be there. At least Aileen had a little pep in her step.
Here’s what I didn’t like:
- The podcast focused on the cultivation, manufacturing and choosing of coffee beans. Boring!
- Both hosts were obviously reading from a script. How inauthentic.
- The jazz music playing in the background while the hosts chatted was quite irritating.
- It was waaaaaaaaay too informercial. Every few minutes, the hosts talked about what’s for sale at their store.
Here’s what Starbucks should’ve done instead:
- Get stories from those who serve coffee behind the counter on some of the weirdest requests they’ve received from customers. Sort of like Niles Crane from Frasier, when he would always ask for coffee with fat free cream, whipped cream without the froth and a splash of nutmeg without the spice. There must be some crazy customers like that.
- Interview customers on some of the wildest, saddest, happiest moments that happened to them while sipping on a brew at their stores. I know I’ve closed a good number of business deals at Starbucks located at Yonge & King in Downtown Toronto, so I’d have some great stories to tell.
- Interview an expert as to why coffee is so addictive. Yes, I’d want to know.
- Do an episode simply asking customers about their first coffee sip. What was the taste like, how old were they, what did it feel like, etc.
Starbucks has no problem getting customers. I mean, everytime I walk into a Starbucks, the lines are very long. Instead, Starbucks should’ve used its podcast to extend the customer experience.
Overall, Starbucks’ focus was wrong. They failed because they focused on the coffee bean. They would’ve succeeded had they focused on their best asset - their customers and the stories they would happily tell about their experience with coffee.
Technorati: podcasting, starbucks, Coffee
October 19th, 2006 at 9:15 pm
[…] Anyway, tonight she wrote about Starbucks and how boring its podcast was (and why it was boring and how to fix it). Good lessons for corporate types if they want to get into podcasting. Filed under: blogging @ 7:15 pm # […]
October 19th, 2006 at 11:06 pm
i’ve been hearing a lot of things about how bad the starbucks thing was, but i gotta say, i didn’t have the courage to listen. thanks for venturing where no one else dared.
October 20th, 2006 at 3:11 am
An authentic voice of a grower in the real environment could make a podcast on coffee beans interesting - and show genuine engagement by Starbucks with those at the sharp end of fairtrade.
October 20th, 2006 at 4:57 am
OK, so it was dire, but at least give them some credit for being web-aware and trying. Let’s all learn from this!
October 20th, 2006 at 8:30 am
If Starbucks focuses on their customers - and not the coffee bean - they’ll have a winner. Until then, this strategy makes it into my “Podcasts Gone Bad” book.
October 20th, 2006 at 8:43 am
The music should have been “Busting up a Starbucks” by Mike Doughty
October 20th, 2006 at 1:29 pm
[…] Starbucks, which seems hell bent on destroying its own brand, has also run afoul of the new expectation of authenticity — hence the short unhappy life of their podcasts. […]
October 22nd, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Why do you think Starbucks podcast was boring? What do they sell? Exactly, coffee! When do you drink coffee? Right, when you get tired. And when do you get tired? When you get bored! This is just a brilliant marketing strategy from Starbucks!
October 22nd, 2006 at 8:51 pm
[…] Podonomics has a review of the news that Starbucks is discontinuing its podcast after only three episodes. […]
October 24th, 2006 at 6:08 am
I agree that they should’ve focused on the customers than the coffee bean because their coffee isn’t that good anyway. They’re like the fast food equivalent of coffee bean.
December 4th, 2006 at 7:58 pm
[…] At Podcast and Portable Media Expo, one of the bright, rising stars I had the opportunity to meet (thank you Scott Bourne!) is Leesa Barnes. In her October 19 Podonumics blog post, she joined in with the voices that have been booing Starbucks Coffee for their Coffee Conversations Podcast, which is now reportedly dead after just three episodes. (My purpose here is not to pile on, but to highlight Leesa’s post and riff on her theme, briefly…) Her post first explains that she actually listened to three full episodes of the podcast and that it really is that bad. (I also listened to all three, and yes, it is a great example of how not to do this type of podcast.) But true to Leesa’s classy style, she doesn’t just heap on negative, tearing down the Starbucks talent, etc. She nails the causes, gives some reasons WHY they are missing the boat, and shares some great ideas of what the might have done differently. Her super creativity aside, Leesa illustrates the kind of thinking that should go into the format of shows related to products. […]