Origin of Starbucks’ name tag cups:
In 2011, one of the company’s baristas decided to innovate and improve customer satisfaction by putting customer names on coffee cups. The news of this innovation rapidly reached the corporate offices which then decided to adopt it.
In 2012, Starbucks adopted this innovation fully, and this marked a new wave of customer relationships for Starbucks. It helped the company to develop its relationship with customers. The intention behind this practice was to help the barista to get to know each customer while making the customer’s order more than a simple transaction. Apart from the improved customer relationship, the names attached to the cups also helped the barista to sort out orders easily, leading to a significant reduction in order errors.
This ‘first-name basis approach’ has since been implemented at every Starbucks outlet all over the world. In fact, in 2012, the company took the ‘first name approach campaign’ a step further by making all baristas wear name badges with their names.
“From now on we won’t refer to you as a tall latte or a mocha, but as your folks intended – by your name. It’s only a little thing. We’re Starbucks. Nice to meet you.”- Starbucks.
Results
Currently, the name-writing campaign is done on more than 4 billion cups in about 30,000 different locations all over the world. Starbucks prioritizes personal connection with its customers, and by putting individual names on cups and attaching name tags on its employee’s aprons, it has improved its customer’s relationship with it.
About: Starbucks is a coffeehouse chain that opened its first outlet in 1971. The company’s headquarters are located in Washington, United States. What rocketed the marketing and customer experience for the company was the implementation of the “Starbucks name tag”.
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