Starbucks is more than just a coffeehouse…

03Feb10

Starbucks is a mega brand.  In fact, it became a mega brand because it was the first place to transform coffee, a commodity, into an experience.  While some people whiz and out of a Starbucks with just a cup of coffee in hand others linger and enjoy the atmosphere and sense of community.  The behemoth coffee-chain creates an environment where people can interact with the possibility of making new friends, a business contact or possibly even a date.  You never know who might be sitting right beside you including your future business partner or future mate.  Given the economic recession there must be more people filling up the seats at plenty of Starbucks who can potentially help each other out.  My advice is if you need some sort of social interaction head over to your nearest Starbucks because you never know who you might meet there.  As for me, I managed to meet at least more than a handful of new friends and business contacts as well as snagged a date or two.  In fact, I’m sure more of my money goes to paying for Starbucks coffee than anything else so clearly the company is financially profiting off of me as they help increase my social connections.  Starbucks also has over 5.5 millions on Facebook.  That’s a big opportunity for FB fans who share their love of the brand online to interact on the site.  And who needs to pay for expensive office spaces these days when people can just conduct their business meetings at a local Starbucks which also provides free WiFi.  Not that Starbucks needs to make any more money but maybe if they got into the social media action there’s a chance they can capitalize on their brand even more.  Give people something engaging to watch — a la this Parker Posey spoof below — and they might just come back for more lattes!

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Tags: Professional Networking, Social Networking