#RaceTogether: 3 Reasons Behind Starbucks' Plunder

This past week, Starbucks' baristas across 12,000 U.S. stores began writing "Race Together" on all of its coffee cups. Why? Starbucks wanted to initiate conversations of race and diversity with their customers.The results? A huge backlash on social media resulting in the temporary closing of Starbucks Sr. VP of Global Communications Corey duBrowa's Twitter account. The intention behind #RaceTogether was noble, but the execution left a lot to be desired. From a marketing perspective, #RaceTogether failed because of (1) poor brand alignment, (2) authenticity deficit, and (3) poor reaction.

Brand Misalignment

Starbucks as a brand has never been associated with racial diversity. Instead, it has been known for premium pricing and even gentrification in some cities. A campaign on race relations and income disparity was quite ironic for a brand such as Starbucks. The nature of #RaceTogether did not align with Starbucks' corporate branding, thus was quickly met with disapproval from customers on the social sphere.

Authenticity Deficit

As a nationwide marketing initiative on race and diversity, Starbucks failed to recognize that their employees, were not trained to facilitate these types of conversations with customers. Were Starbucks' partners informed or even comfortable enough to discuss on topics of race and diversity with customers? The overall campaign put partners and customers in an awkward position. #RaceTogether forced an artificial agenda from corporate Starbucks rather than letting conversations sprout organically. The lack of authenticity caused many customers to feel that Starbucks was misinformed while attempting to cash in on a recent trend. A big no-no for marketing.

Poor Reaction

Any marketer would question whether Starbucks actually had a crisis management plan for #RaceTogether. Social media is a double-edged sword. It could be rewarding yet volatile and unforgiving at the same time. Immediately after the launch of #RaceTogether on March 17, Starbucks customers began flooding social media with their frustrations about the campaign. Starbucks' response? Not much. Some customers attempted to tweet to Corey duBrowa's Twitter handle to no avail. Shortly, on the same day of #RaceTogether launch, duBrowa's Twitter was deactivated. This further fueled customers' anger with Starbucks–their lack of responsibility and responsiveness. DuBrowa's Twitter handle has since been reactivated.

Key Takeaways from #RaceTogether for Brands

• Alignment between your brand perception and everything else you do must be present at all time. When a brand becomes out of touch with its own brand perception and customers, another #RaceTogether failure will likely ensue.
• Authenticity is the driving factor behind any successful marketing campaign. People engage with campaigns, not companies. When there is a disconnect in authenticity, people will feel cheated and react negatively.
• Proactive and reactive thinking should be the number one goal in any campaign development process. Developing and having a plan to react with backlash, whether mild or extreme, prevents a campaign failure from escalating to a point of no return.

Final Thoughts

Despite all the negative criticisms, I firmly believe Starbucks had good intention behind #RaceTogether. The campaign did stir up debates of race and diversity – perhaps not the way Starbucks would have wanted, but it ultimately created buzz over this topic. Starbucks still has the potential to lead this conversation. Let's hope that future campaigns will be developed and executed with the customers in mind.

What are your thoughts about #RaceTogether? What would you have done differently if you were Starbucks? Comment below.

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Image Credit: http://bit.ly/1I11PkX.