The success of the metaverse depends on capital investment and ultimately end-user adoption. Starbucks can drive both. It has the deep pockets of a major corporation, and has reach into the daily lives of millions. Starbucks has the ability to create new trends and ensure that existing nascent ideas make it out of incubation and into the mainstream.
Kevin Johnson, President and CEO of Starbucks has committed his company to the metaverse with this direct quote:
Starbucks is committed to create a [digital] third place experience that is exactly tuned to that need — providing safe, familiar and convenient experiences.
Kevin Johnson, President and CEO of Starbucks
Brady Brewer, the Chief Marketing Officer of Starbucks, takes this concept even further in this piece written alongside Adam Brotman. Here he describes utilizing Blockchain, Web3, and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) in Starbuck’s vision for this “digital third place“.
We believe NFTs have broad potential to create an expanded, shared-ownership model for loyalty, the offering of unique experiences, community building, storytelling, and customer engagement. And, while doing so also being a source of accretive business that can benefit a number of stakeholders in the process, while creating a new type of digital ecosystem to complement Starbucks current digital platform offering.
Brady Brewer, Chief Marketing Officer, Starbucks
This is a concrete example of a major corporation not just dipping its toes in the waters of the metaverse, but definitively committing to it. Not only will this result in capital investment by Starbucks, but the reach of Starbucks into the daily routines of millions around the globe will help usher in end-user adoption on a massive scale. Think of what happens when suddenly everyone who gets a coffee at Starbucks is now introduced to the concept of a digital third place as the bridge between the brick and mortar world as they know it and the ethereal metaverse?
And the really groundbreaking part are the future plans that will drive invite-only engagement through events and membership perks exclusive to Starbucks NFT holders. Think “Bored Ape Yacht Club for coffee drinkers” – a much larger addressable market. Not only will this result in a Tribal Marketing win for Starbucks, but more importantly it has the potential to drive mainstream adoption of NFTs as the technology that facilitates the metaverse-bridge. Here’s the direct quote that outlines this reality:
We plan to create a series of branded NFT collections, the ownership of which initiates community membership, and allows for access to exclusive experiences and perks. The themes of these collections will be born of Starbucks artistic expressions, both heritage and newly created, as well as through world-class collaborations with other innovators and like-minded brands.
Brady Brewer, Chief Marketing Officer, Starbucks
Read the full post on the use of Blockchain, Web3, and NFT in the creation of a Starbucks metaverse.
Read the full open letter from the CEO of Starbucks on their commitment to the third place.
Read up on NFTs in this handy NFT guide.