“By its very nature, national advertising fuels fears about ubiquity,” Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO said over a decade ago.
With Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds competing for his customers, Mr. Schultz is singing a new tune. One he learned from Dan Wieden.
“We need to recognize that the category is evolving,” Mr. Schultz told analysts on a conference call Thursday. “And as the leader, we have an opportunity to make sure that our voice is heard through the all-important medium of television.”
Satrbucks is going with a tame holiday campaign, but Wieden wants more. And they have a history of getting what they want. Their edgy ads would show Americans discussing issues of importance to them and depict Starbucks coffee shops as the living room of the national conversation.
In a pitch meeting, the agency showed a short reel of consumers talking about the war in Iraq and health care. The agency also showed images of what people were talking about, such as a picture of pop singer Britney Spears the day she shaved her head and a picture of a U.S. soldier.
The idea of the campaign is to create buzz without directly pushing Starbucks products.
[via The Wall Street Journal]
