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Do Coffee & Race Relations Mix?

3/28/2015

 
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You’re at the front of the line; it’s your turn to order: “I’d like an Iced Caffè Mocha, Grande, with whipped cream.”  “Sounds good,” the barista replies; “What’s your name and how do you feel about racial inequality?”

Surprised by the second part of the question?  You’re not alone.  Many Starbucks customers were recently jolted from their java when their cup came back with the phrase “Race Together” printed on the side.  Even more shocking were the efforts of baristas to “discuss race issues with customers.”

Why would the global coffee company want to tackle such a tumultuous topic?  Starbuck’s CEO Howard Schultz felt unsettled by the nation’s racial unrest and believed it was irresponsible for his firm to remain silent on this important issue.  Certainly Schultz was under no illusion that Race Together would solve the problem; however he did see the program as “an opportunity to begin to re-examine how we can create a more empathetic and inclusive society – one conversation at a time.”   

Unfortunately, many Starbucks customers and others found mixing coffee beans with complex conversations about human beings to be a bizarre blend.  Some doubted the efficacy of forcing these discussions, while others wondered how any meaningful dialogue could be distilled down to such an ephemeral exchange.

True, some consumers passing through retail checkout lines covet extended conversations with cashiers, but most do not.  Furthermore, even chatty customers don’t necessarily want to delve into a discussion as delicate as race with someone they hardly know.  The Race Together initiative also placed considerable pressure on Starbucks’ baristas, who had to act as ambassadors for race relations while completing their normal job responsibilities in a timely way.

In other words, because of the initiative, Starbucks jeopardized a key part of its core value proposition: efficient counter service, which wasn’t effective marketing.  Furthermore, as customers’ reactions to the program suggested, this decreased utility unfortunately wasn’t offset by a noticeable gain in goodwill.

People do appreciate when firms embrace corporate social responsibility, but that CSR needs to feel genuine, not forced.  Likewise, it’s best when business benevolence is strategic; i.e., it logically connects to what the company does to deliver value and produce profit.  This type of integrated approach to CSR makes more sense to consumers and is more effective for marketers.

Brewing coffee and counseling on race relations is an awkward assembly.  Starbucks seems now to have recognized the ill-conceived combination and pulled back on its Race Together program.  In sum, the company can be commended for its noble intent to address a very important social issue, but the program’s apparent ineffectiveness along with its likely negative impact on operations makes Race Together a recipe for “Simple-Minded Marketing.”

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Gaming One's Way To College

3/21/2015

 
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It’s afterschool and a mother admonishes her son: “Kevin, are you still working on chemistry homework?  You need to finish that and start playing your video game.”  For most teens such a mandate from mom would be nothing more than fantasy.  However, for some digitally-gifted college prospects, the dream has become reality.

A few creative colleges have started offering scholarships to incoming students for (you’re not going to believe this) playing video games.  The first to do so was Robert Morris University in Chicago, which awarded a scholarship to Youngbin Chung, based on his mastery of League of Legends, a multiplayer battle arena video played on-line.  Another school that’s followed suit is the University of Pikesville (KY).

Have these schools taken leave of their senses?  Isn’t playing video games anathema to education?  Not according to Daphne Bavelier, a research professor in brain and cognitive sciences who holds dual appointments at the University of Rochester and the University of Geneva.  In a recent study Bavelier found that players of fast-paced action video games were better learners, a result he attributed to more finely tuned prediction skills, honed as one’s brain constantly and quickly tries to anticipate what will come next.

For a game like League of Legends, the learning may also happen at other levels.  In League of Legends, players compete on teams of five “in a battle for domination that is sort of like a high-speed digital version of capture the flag.”  As such, players are compelled to think strategically and act cooperatively. 

This combination of cognitive challenge, teamwork, and adrenaline rush, has proven potent for the game’s creator, Riot Games, which last October held the League of Legends world championships in Los Angeles.  The high-energy competition drew 18,000 fans to the Staples Center, while 32 million others viewed the game-play online. 

In light of the educational outcomes and the opportunity to reach the coveted young, largely male, demographic, it’s not surprising that more than 230 college and universities field League of Legends teams, competing head-to head in the Collegiate Star League (CSL), whose participants include many of the largest and most reputed institutions in higher education, e.g., the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, and Harvard.  Some schools, like Robert Morris, have taken the esports club concept a step further and even started varsity esports programs.

For all of the reasons mentioned above, as well as the exploding popularity of video games, granting scholarships to gamers seems like effective marketing for colleges and universities.  The practice also upholds societal values by affording higher education access to more young people with different interests and skill sets.  A caveat, however, is that the games’ contents should not jeopardize values such as decency and respect, which is questionable for League of Legends.  If these prerequisites are fulfilled, however, video game scholarships can be seen as a surprising new form of “Mindful Marketing.”

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Does Your Baby Have a Boyfriend?

3/14/2015

 
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Parents, you know how it is:  You’ve watched your baby girl grow.  Now she’s 18 and talk has turned to the inevitable—boys.  But isn’t 18 still far too young for a boyfriend?  It certainly is if you’re talking 18 months!

Old Navy, mass marketer of cheap-chic fashion, is well positioned with Millennials and Gen Y consumers.  From socks to swimwear, the retailer has a propensity for picking the right products and price-points.  Not surprising, one of its most popular product lines is jeans.

If you haven’t visited Old Navy’s website recently to shop for women’s jeans (I haven’t), you might be surprised to find 169 varieties of denims, including styles like “Rock-Star,” “Diva,” and “Flirt.”  You also may be surprised to see one style that’s targeted toward both teens and toddlers: It’s called “Boyfriend.”  Old Navy sells Boyfriend jeans for very little girls, from 5T down to 12-18 months.

Of course, girls that young don’t have boyfriends, and no reasonable person would think that Old Navy is suggesting that they should, so what’s the problem?  It’s cute to see babies dressed up like little adults, wearing the same styles as mom or dad.  Plus, the miniature versions aren’t just smaller; they’re also specially
cut for babies’ bodies.

Although all of the following may be true, we should also consider the direction in which our culture is evolving.   We live in a society that tends to over-sexualize and objectify women.  A sign of this trend is mounting pressure for younger and younger girls to act and look like women who are much older and more mature.  The imitation ranges from alluring make-up to revealing clothing.

Again, Old Navy is not advocating that babies should have boyfriends, but by giving its baby and toddler girl jeans this moniker, it’s promoting rather than discouraging the pressure just described.  Likewise, it’s worth noting why jeans and other apparel for girls use the “boyfriend” adjective—the girls are supposed to look as if they’re wearing their boyfriends’ clothes, as Hadley Freeman describes:

“To insinuate one has a boyfriend makes one look really cool and desired and validated (see: endless fashion blogs and tumblrs about models' boyfriends) and therefore it is super sexy to look like you just rolled out of bed (probably from having sex! Only cool people are allowed to have sex, ya know!), pulled on your boyfriend's clothes and hit the streets.”

Our little girls deserve time to be little girls.  They shouldn’t be forced to grow-up too quickly, especially in a sexual sense.  Encouraging such a hasty dash to maturity is harmful to them and unhealthy for our society (e.g., teen pregnancy: more than half of teen mothers never graduate from high school).

The apparent success of Old Navy’s Boyfriend lines suggests effective marketing and stakeholder value.  However, because the retail strategy compromises on important social values, Old Navy’s baby Boyfriend jeans should be considered “Single-Minded Marketing.”

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Promotion You Can Dig

3/7/2015

 
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When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.  When winter brings you too much snow, you turn it into a promotional strategy driven by social responsibility.  At least that’s what you do if you’re Canadian Tire.

Canadian Tire’s name is a misnomer.  Yes, the mass marketer sells tires, but its retail product lines are much more expansive, ranging from cleaning supplies, to home furnishings, to electronics, to clothing.  The 90-year-old company claims to know “life in Canada better than anyone else,” as it serves its namesake nation from coast-to-coast through almost 1,700 retail and gasoline outlets.

So, with much of the country covered in snow, Canadian Tire’s marketing agency, Tribal Worldwide, created a promotional campaign that has resonated across Canada: “Shovel-It-Forward.”  Apparently it’s customary among Canadians to shovel a neighbor’s driveway as an act of kindness.  Canadian Tire’s campaign capitalized on this custom by encouraging all compatriots to do the same, as the campaign’s main ad illustrates.

In addition, teams from Canadian Tire did some of their own digging:  They “went to neighborhoods in the seven Canadian cities that were hardest-hit by snow and shoveled a total of 84 driveways, leaving Canadian-Tire-branded shovels on each stoop with stickers that encouraged residents to shovel their neighbors’ driveways, and then pass the shovels on. The stickers on the shovels also prompted people to visit the campaign’s website: ShovelItForward.ca"

Has Canadian Tire’s shoveling strategy been effective marketing?  It’s hard to know without seeing trackable results; however, one can speculate that the campaign has created considerable goodwill for the company, based on social media and other news coverage.  Furthermore, one shouldn’t forget that Canadian Tire sell snow shovels—a relevant and timely promotional tie-in.

The Shovel-It-Forward campaign also certainly supports societal values.  Our world will be a better place if more people  undertake similar small yet significant acts of kindness.  Benevolence breeds benevolence.  In sum, Canadian Tire can be commended for its “Mindful Marketing.”


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    David Hagenbuch,
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    Mindful Marketing    & author of Honorable Influence

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