Starbucks Brand Hijacking Attempt Part III

by John R. SedivycloseAuthor: John R. Sedivy Name: John R. Sedivy
Email: john@capecodbranding.com
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This article concludes the “Starbucks Brand Hijacking Attempt” series by explaining how Starbucks successfully survived the social media assault unscathed and what we as individuals and businesses stand to learn from their example.

In “Starbucks Brand Hijacking Attempt Part I” I had explained the attempted undermining of a Starbucks social media campaign. In “Starbucks Brand Hijacking Attempt Part II” I had discussed how in my opinion the attack fell short, and Starbucks has appears to have surfaced unaffected. Now on to how they did it…

The Right Stuff

So what did Starbucks do right concerning this attempt to hijack their social media campaign and potentially their brand? Simply put – they just kept being Starbucks. That’s right. There was no silver bullet, smear campaign, or counter-strike necessary. Starbucks just continued with their social media presence and focusing on their customers all while the attack dwindled in effectiveness.

Starbucks has a pretty solid social media presence to begin with. For example, they have a Facebook page and Twitter account.  The Starbucks Facebook Page has over 3 million fans at the time of this writing. The Starbucks Twitter Page has over 200,000 followers. Not to say that having social media accounts and a fan base is an end all, but they also do a reasonable job of keeping their accounts up to date and keeping fans and followers engaged.

Learn To Let Go

Rob Walker in his book “Buying In” discussed the concept of brand hijacking. Basically it is when the consumers of your product or service attempt to define your product. In essence, you lose control as your consumers gain control. Sometimes it could be good, other times bad. The mistake that is sometimes made is that a company may attempt to interfere or squash the hijacking of their brand rather than let the situation play out. Rob Walker provides an example of a positive brand hijacking that actually helped a company redefine their brand in a positive light while reducing overall marketing costs, and increasing sales. In my humble opinion, control is an illusion – therefore one should go about their business, monitor their environment, and adjust accordingly all while learning along the way.

Although the intent of the anti-Starbucks campaign was certainly negative, I believe that Starbucks took the right approach and others should follow suit in the event that they should experience a brand hijacking. In this instance Starbucks continued to participate in social media, engaged their audience, kept their product offerings the same, basically it was business as usual. Remember – what you focus on expands, if you focus or respond in negative fashion to a negative attack – it will only fuel the fire. Responding positively or just maintaining a positive presence will help grow this positive presence over time.

Just be yourself, consistently – over time this is the best strategy!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding

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