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July 22, 2004
Control is futile
Paul and John at Brand Autopsy take issue with my last post on John Winter Smith, whom I'd consider an ultimate Starbucks evangelist.
It must have been the Jared comparison that made their heads bobble.
Winter and Jared's evangelism are obviously different. No one improves their life by drinking 10 cups of coffee every day like Winter does in his quixotic quest to visit every freakin' Starbucks store. My comparison was to illustrate that Subway embraced their guy and Starbucks has not (except for sending him a few goodies.)
Which raises a bigger question: Why do most big companies avoid publicly reaching out to the little guy? Why is embracing a quirky but obvious evangelist so fear-inducing? If Starbucks were a 24-store operation and not 5,000 then Winter might be considered a hero rather than gadfly.
Perhaps it's because big companies cast such a large shadow that the light exuded by one person cannot possibly permeate the levels of armor most corporations accumulate over time.
Paul says Starbucks won't embrace Winter because he perpetuates the notion that Starbucks is ubiquitous, something the company does not want to promote.
Ahem, Starbucks: Everyone knows you're ubiquitous.
Don't think the elephant of ubiquity is disguised because you choose not to acknowledge it. There's a proverb you might want to read about an emperor and couture...
To a heck of a lot people, the ubiquity of Starbucks is good, the anti-global corporate protestors notwithstanding. Some neighborhoods in Chicago and Boston are begging Starbucks to open stores in their neighborhoods so it increases property values.
The vast majority of people in the world don't despise McDonald's for its "99 billion served" ubiquity, even in today's climate of anti-Americanism, which is directed at our government, not our companies. The "Super Size Me" vitriol directed toward McDonald's is about its obesity-inducing menu, not its ubiquity. Starbucks has a reputation for good corporate citizenship.
Paul says that Starbucks won't embrace Winter because he mentions, tongue-in-cheek, on his website that drinking so much coffee at the stores in one day is making him sick. Well, customer evangelists are not perfect. You can't keep them on message. They don't always say what you want them to say. That's what paid shills do.
While they are usually effusive in their evangelism, expect authentic customer evangelists to be honest, and to keep you honest, too. Their adventurous personalities set them apart from the vast armies of mild-mannered customers. For instance, they:
* Sleep outside a new Krispy Kreme store for 3 weeks
* Take days of vacation and drag the family to Springhill Tennessee to party with other Saturn owners
* Purchase five TiVos, one for every TV in the house including one for the guest bedroom TV so that visitors won't be subjected to watching that "horrible" live TV
* Tattoo the Harley logo on their body
* Invest untold amounts of time and energy to lobby Coca-Cola to resurrect Surge cola
It's all quirky but authentic behavior. If they say 10 cups of coffee in one day makes them sick, of course it does. It's authentic.
Control is futile.
Starbucks needn't build an expensive marketing and advertising campaign around Winter. Rather, can it shed the accumulated corporate armor and to recognize that evangelism from its quirkiest customers is a gift?
Other blogs that reference Control is futile:
» Stars Will Fall from Customer Intelligence
Starbucks is in trouble. It won't give John Winter Smith the time of day. In case you haven't heard of the guy, Smith recently appeared in Fortune Magazine in an article describing his quest to have a cup of coffee... [Read More]
» Stars Will Fall from Customer Intelligence
Starbucks is in trouble. It won't give John Winter Smith the time of day. In case you haven't heard of the guy, Smith recently appeared in Fortune Magazine in an article describing his quest to have a cup of coffee... [Read More]
» Stars Will Fall from Customer Intelligence
Starbucks is in trouble. It won't give John Winter Smith the time of day. In case you haven't heard of the guy, Smith recently appeared in Fortune Magazine in an article describing his quest to have a cup of coffee... [Read More]
» Stars Will Fall from Customer Intelligence
Starbucks is in trouble. It won't give John Winter Smith the time of day. In case you haven't heard of the guy, Smith recently appeared in Fortune Magazine in an article describing his quest to have a cup of coffee... [Read More]
» Stars Will Fall from Customer Intelligence
Starbucks is in trouble. It won't give John Winter Smith the time of day. In case you haven't heard of the guy, Smith recently appeared in Fortune Magazine in an article describing his quest to have a cup of coffee... [Read More]
» Stars Will Fall from Customer Intelligence
Starbucks is in trouble. It won't give John Winter Smith the time of day. In case you haven't heard of the guy, Smith recently appeared in Fortune Magazine in an article describing his quest to have a cup of coffee... [Read More]
» Stars Will Fall from Customer Intelligence
Starbucks is in trouble. It won't give John Winter Smith the time of day. In case you haven't heard of the guy, Smith recently appeared in Fortune Magazine in an article describing his quest to have a cup of coffee... [Read More]
» Stars Will Fall from Customer Intelligence
Starbucks is in trouble. It won't give John Winter Smith the time of day. In case you haven't heard of the guy, Smith recently appeared in Fortune Magazine in an article describing his quest to have a cup of coffee... [Read More]
I agree with you 100%. If they don't take care of their best customer, no matter how quirky he might be, then how will they take care of their "normal" customers!
Oh man, brilliant response Jackie. Reading this gave me the same rush I had when I first read your book :) (lightbulb) I get it! Thanks.
I heard on NPR that Saturn is discontinuing thier annual Homecoming. That's a great way make some customer fanatics really, really upset.
