My Starbucks Idea: How Starbucks Used It for Business Crowdsourcing
Within five years, if you’re in the same business you are in now, you’re going to be out of business. Dire theory from Peter Drucker. The My Starbucks Idea website, where Starbucks does its business crowdsourcing, has been actively engaging customers for over 3 years now.
Ever tried My Starbucks Idea?
It encourages customers to submit ideas for better products, improving the customer experience, and defining new community involvement, among other categories. Clearly, Starbucks has seen and believes what Peter Drucker has to say about business adaptability.
Customers can submit, view, and discuss submitted ideas along with employees from various Starbucks departments ‘Idea Partners’. The company regularly polls its customers for their favorite products and has a leaderboard to track which customers are the most active in submitting ideas, comments, and poll participation.
The site is at once a crowdsourcing tool, a market research method that brings customer priorities to light, an online community, and an effective internet marketing tool.
Starbucks has clearly embraced the digital realm. With a strong presence on multiple social networks, the brand has set a high bar when it comes to being social and engaging its customers. They are at or near the top of nearly every major brand ranking in social media.
Starbucks’ ability to wear so many hats corporate success, “local” favorite, and Internet sensation warrants strategic examination.
My Starbucks Idea … why is Starbuck’s business crowdsourcing so effective?
One important reason is that they have combined the concepts of change, experimentation, social media, customer engagement and market research and made the results key components of their dominant brand.
We all fear failure. At best, this makes us hesitate. At worst, it leads to total stagnation. One of the most common reasons for resistance is fear of the unknown. People will only take active steps toward the unknown if they genuinely believe – and perhaps more importantly, feel – that the risks of standing still are greater than those of moving forward in a new direction.
When we talk about comfort zones we’re really referring to routines. We love them. They make us secure.
Have you given My Starbucks Idea a try? What did you think?
Lots of ideas here that can be easily replicated … which ones do you feel could benefit your business? How could you improve the My Starbucks Idea concept for your business?
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you.
It’s up to you to keep improving your business innovation process and efforts. Lessons are all around you. In some cases, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. Or collaborating with you. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Try. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your creativity, innovation, and ideas?
Do you have a lesson about making your creativity better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading on creativity and innovation from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Amazon and Managing Innovation … the Jeff Bezos Vision
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
