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How Starbucks Can Stick with ‘Race Together’ — and Get It Right
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How Starbucks Can Stick with ‘Race Together’ — and Get It Right

Knowledge at Wharton·@HashtagPLUS·about 1 month ago
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Howard Schultz, CEO of Seattle-based coffeehouse chain Starbucks, clearly got more than what he bargained for when he launched on March 16 a campaign called “Race Together” to stimulate conversations on race issues. The plan called for Starbucks baristas to write the words “Race Together” on customers’ cups, but many saw that as an intrusion into their personal space. The outrage was intense on social media, compelling the company’s vice president of public relations to delete his Twitter account. A week later last Sunday, Schultz ended the campaign, which he said was the plan all along. Wharton marketing professor Americus Reed identified the fundamental problem with the Starbucks campaign. “It is intention versus execution here,” he said. “From a marketing standpoint, it is always going to be a challenge because consumers are skeptical and they’ll always think there is an ulterior motive here: You’re trying to sell me more coffee [or] you’re trying to create a halo around the brand.…

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