by As communicators, we all want to create the new, best and most creative campaigns to present to our clients who then decide whether or not to go forth with them publicly to their stakeholders. Sometimes, things don’t go as planned and reactions spiral out of control.
Starbucks has recently launched a campaign called #RaceTogether, where baristas were encouraged to write that particular hashtag on ever single customer cup. They wanted their customers to start conversations about race while waiting for their drinks.
Of course, Starbucks took a hard hit on all of their social media accounts with many customers complaining negatively.
The campaign has been criticized from business professionals to stakeholders about the reasons why Starbucks decided to talk about such a touchy subject. Starbucks hasn’t been responding and have not taken “proper” action in a time of a communication crisis.
Here are some tips and ideas for Starbucks to change their campaign and respond effectively to these reactions.
Accountability. Being able to take responsibility for unethical actions or sayings that may have hurt feelings is the most crucial part of crisis communication. Starbucks should of publicly announced that their good intentions did not mean to hurt anyone and the entire campaign was poorly executed. Instead, Howard Shultz, CEO of Starbucks, stood his ground and said, It’s not going to solve racism, but I do believe it is the right thing to do at this time.” Although this may not be the response many wanted, he did stand his ground and release the statement he felt was needed in this time of crisis.
According to a study from Stanford, companies that admitted to their mistakes and mishaps often saw higher future stock prices from their stakeholders. Maybe Starbucks should release a formal apology letter to restore positive relations with customers and stakeholders.
Honesty. In times like these, honesty and transparency are not a choice, they are considered a responsible action that all companies should respect and abide to. If you were wrong, say you were wrong! Howard Shultz and the rest of the Starbucks team had an idea. Although that idea may have gotten misinterpreted, Shultz should have reacted sooner in explaining the reason behind the campaign.
Many people liked the idea of the campaign and thought it was starting to make a difference. 
Starbucks did decide to end the campaign all together with a formal announcement from Shultz to their partners on March 22, 2015.
“Our objective from the very start of this effort… was to stimulate conversation, empathy and compassion toward one another, and then to broaden that dialogue beyond just our Starbucks family to the greater American public by using our scale for good. The promise of the American Dream should be available to every person in this country, not just a select few.”
I think this is a great example of a company trying to insert themselves into a conversation that they were not meant to be in. I think your highlights of how to repair what has happened are great. Empathy, especially with race I think is crucial. It is a problem that some believe not everyone understands. Starbucks could have inserted themselves into this type of conversation by donating their time and employees to a cause. Maybe volunteering at an event, donating materials to a good cause – something along those lines.
Thanks Drew! I really hope that Starbucks was able to take a lot of the positives and negatives from this campaign to successfully launch one in the future. There was a lot to learn as well as a place for growth and understanding in the future. I think it’s important for us all to realize how far a sincere apology can go in a time like this.
This post was super interesting! I was surprised to read that as big as Starbucks is, responded so late and withdrew the campaign entirely. I think with the tips that you wrote about there would have been the chance to keep #RaceTogether going and to show people what Starbucks had intended to do. Had Starbucks been honest with their consumers about their positive intents I believe that the #RaceTogether campaign would still be going on and could garner Starbucks a lot of support and appreciation for starting these conversations.
I completely agree. I really hope that Starbucks can take all the positives and negatives from their previous campaigns; learned what went well and what didn’t. I believe every person and company can make mistakes but it takes a lot for a company to come back strong after it went downhill to create an even better tactic and plan for the next campaign.
Deanna,
I think you definitely brought up some great points that would have for sure helped Starbucks out after this campaign went sort of south. I do think that it was definitely a great idea to try and tackle such a huge topic in our society today but unfortunately it is very hard to make a public statement on this topic and many others like it without offending at least one person. Its near impossible actually. I think instead of making such a bold hashtag such as “RaceTogether” they could have picked a less aggressive tagline that maybe a discussion from race could potentially sprout from. I think one of the best qualities in an individual is the ability to admit when they are wrong and take a lesson from that act. This applies to businesses as well especially in today’s society where businesses attempt to communicate with more human interaction. What would have helped Starbucks tremendously like you said is a simple apology. They attempted to tackle a huge idea but when it doesn’t work you just have to swallow your pride and say we tried but we are sorry, that alone makes a world of difference.
Thanks for your comment! I completely agree with everything you said. A little apology can go a long way especially when it could have a huge impact on future campaigns. What Starbucks did was a challenge and it didn’t go the way they wanted, but responding to the topic after it offended people can result in a positive outcome next time they want to launch another campaign. I really hope they learned from this experience and use all that information in future campaigns!
Earlier in the year my creative strategy class skyped with Corey duBrowa, the SVP Global Communications at Starbucks. This was before the #RaceTogether campaign, but soon after they’d released an ad on Martin Luther King Jr. Day that featured a backwards alphabet with the letters MLK highlighted, below it said “It’s time to look at things differently, again.” We also talked to him about how Starbucks had been hosting in-company discussions about the issues surrounding race in America. I believe videos of the discussions were posted online, and they seemed to be successful. Additionally, duBrowa told us that Starbucks is often the first business to go into a struggling neighborhood, in hopes of providing jobs. If I remember correctly, he said they’d been planning to open one on the street in Ferguson that suffered the most during the protests. It’s unfortunate that in the heightened emotions following the #RaceTogether campaign announcement completely overshadowed all of the other things that Starbucks had done. It’s hard to know what the reaction will be to a PR Campaign.
Wow, thanks for all that information. I had no idea how much good they wanted to get involved in with providing jobs and opening up the eyes of others through the power of their business. Thanks for sharing!