Starbucks Contiuned

http://www.facebook.com/Starbucks

Accessed on the 15th November

 Here are screen grabs from facebook and more specify Starbucks Fan Page. On the 15th November when I collected these images facebook had 32.7million facebook likes from sperate users across the global. Which is the size of a country let which shows the reach these huge brands have. They also had 297,190 talking about this which means people mentioning the company in a personal status or comment on a users profile. Showing the word of mouth created but these 297,190 comments/status will reach more people than just that because it will appear on feeds and facebook walls for all their friends to see. This enable for other businesses to see how important social networking is to businesses to spread the word about their products. This seems to make a more lasting imprint on a person than a television advert as people are actively engaging with friends about these items rather than inactively watching a television commercial. Plus 6.3million checked in to Starbucks which is basically the same as comment and status as it posts to your facebook maps on the users profile.

I have highlighted on the right hand side to show they have back dated their history/posts back to when the business was created in 1982. Showing Starbucks has really took on board what Mark Zuckerberg stated "tell the whole story of your life on a single page"

The cover image (large image at the top of the profile) is the first thing you see on the page when you log then the display picture which is Starbucks corporate logo. The image has been produced in Instagram which is owned by facebook and it allows users to place fliters onto their pictures that make them look like they have been taken by a film/lomography/instragraphic cameras, this software is only available upon phones and tablet and gives a dream like quality to the image with its blured and faded and burnt colours. Instagram is a hugely popular with over 100million users (september 2012 http://mashable.com/2012/09/11/instagram-100-million/ ) and is the trendy way to publish your images onto the internet, giving them that more personalised/unique image?
The content of the image is interesting to as it has a users name on it, this is because of when you physically go into a Starbucks they write your name onto your drink (so they donot get lost or taken by another person) however this gives the sense of a highly personalised service. As it feels like they want to know your name than other shopping experience, giving the feeling that you matter to them. So they have translated this onto their facebook. This and the quality of the image gives a warmth of homeliness to the audience?

Starbucks uploads lot of images relating to their products like this one of which looks like it is out of their development kitchen or a tasting panel. Do these images display the lifestyle that people inspire to? Through the sense of city lifestyle, professional life and a taste for the better things in life? What is for sure they use more informal tone of voice to their facebook fans, "For coffee lovers only." Does this give a sense of community of using the idea of us and then them, us being the coffee lovers. Plus I have noticed that all of their status are short and too the point. They do not rant onto the consumer about what they offer they let the images talk for them and then the users to comment to create more content to go along side the content displayed?

Here is a good example of how the timeline profile is adaptable for the user by highlighting a story by spreading it across the whole screen with Toms New years resolution image. Aswell you can see how Starbucks publishs links to its website onto its timeline to drive users back to their website where more content all about Starbucks culture and products is at.
A great demonstration of how businesses can update their audiences of changing and important issues is displayed in the botton right of this screen grab. With Starbucks updating their audience that their is a Scam occurring so they do not negative views from their audience they have been scammed as they have spread the word through a site were most of Starbucks fans are already at.

 Another great example of Starbucks use of image updates via the medium of Instagram. The two images on the right give a sense Starbucks is always there for you. With the top image the cup is by his side as he waits to meet his girlfriend? Giving the sense that the cup will always be there for him giving him that reassuring warmth from the coffee inside. Then the image below of the fair ground give the sign of the importance of the cup in "Alison's" life as the instagram allowed the user to blur out the rest out and focus in on the cup. Plus the title being "One more round." gives the sense that the audience should just indulge themselves in the another coffee (similar to the reassuring sense given in the man with the flowers.)

 The following screen grabs are from the so called"back dating" of the timeline to give the user the full history of the company. This manner of displaying the information gives a bite size history for users to understand where a company has truly come from. Bite size in the sense of an image (when available) and small one or two sentence description allows anyone with a small interest to see the path (which might not be unlike some of the users who maybe classed in know where).

The timeline gives a great opportunity for Starbucks to show its narrative/journey to everyone and to allow they to add and engage with that history.