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Starbucks pauses Advertising on all Social Media
- buboard 6y agoWell apart from this being a good PR play in a time when advertising is naturally cut back due to the uncertaintly, it will be a big test (if not just acknowledgement) that social media traffic is just as crap traffic as e.g. forums. The old adage about 50% of ad spending being wasted is true , the it's just that the perception of where it is that's changing. My theory is that FB & Google are just better at dazzling advertisers with fancy dashboards that they can show their bosses.
- mrkramer 6y agoAdvertising on TV and in Newspapers is 50% wasted because there is no a way to have targeted advertising, but with Facebook and Google advertisers have an option to target their audience and efficiency of an advertising campaign is drastically improved.
- buboard 6y agoif that were true, the switch to online advertisement should have led to increased consumption/sales per person compared to previous decades, but that's not happened
- firmnoodle 6y agoThis is a great step at stopping not just the spread of hate speech but also at stopping hate itself. Platforms like Twitter and Facebook have done and continue to do too much to encourage and then monetize rage.
- truthwhisperer 6y ago+ universities. Left hate speech
- product50 6y agoHaha. Good luck. You have no idea how these platforms make money. Starbucks, Coca Cola don't spend much on these platforms anyways. They are just using this as an opportunity to gain brownie points without incurring much harm anyways. Performance advertisers are their bed and butter. For example, that app install ad or that ad from Direct to Consumer advertiser (for example Allbirds) are the ones who cherish FB. They must be really happy since their CAC just went down as brand advertisers are running away! THey will literally double down spending on FB/Twitter.
- bearcobra 6y agoStarbucks spent close to $100 million advertising with Facebook
- rvz 6y agoGiven the pandemic situation, Starbucks needs that $100m more than Facebook does. Their actions won't change or address anything. So let them save it.
- product50 6y agoDoesn't matter. That money will be replaced by performance advertisers. Top 100 Fortune brands make up 6% of FB ad revenue. This is why all these boycott FB ads doesn't make any sense. THe only thing which will hurt FB is users boycotting - not advertisers. There are always opportunistic advertisers who will want to gain access to cheap(er) inventory to reduce their acquisition costs.
- AznHisoka 6y agoWho is going to be the main beneficiary of this move? Where else are these advertisers going to shift their ad dollars
- kediz 6y agoIn the U.S the beneficiary might be political ads? If this is the case, would it make social medias more reliant on divisive speeches?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- fabrika 6y agoNice, this will hurt both Starbucks and social media. The rest of us win.
- cocktailpeanuts 6y agowhat's nice about starbucks hurting?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- redwood 6y agoIt's the mcdonalds of coffee
- tyre 6y agoDunkin’ Donuts is the McDonald’s of coffee
- kop316 6y agoMy biggest pet peeve with them is they seem to hurt local coffee shops. You can find starbucks almost ubitquiously, but it's very difficult now to find a local shop ouside of a larger city. I don't think that is a coincedence (I also thought I read an article about their strong arming tactis to local shops, but I cannot readily find it, so maybe I was imaging it and combining it with a confirmation bias). Also, their drinks are very sugary and VERY calorie packed. I personally think starbucks on average is worse for someone versus a Coke/Soda/Pop: https://globalassets.starbucks.com/assets/867c147d5dcc46e9afb307093d5172e1.pdf https://globalassets.starbucks.com/assets/867c147d5dcc46e9af... Additionally, I don't think their actual coffee tastes very good (granted, this is my preference). Even the lightest roast tastes burnt. Starbucks was the reason I thought I did not like french roast for the longest time. When I actually tried a different brand, I was surprised at how much I actually liked it.
- ianmcgowan 6y agoIf it weren't for all the confounding factors, this would be a nice natural experiment to answer the question "how effective is social media advertising?".
- pl0x 6y agoHow much of this is pausing or moving their budgets around because social media was performing poorly anyways?
- awinter-py 6y agohmm I wonder what the total ad spend of these 100 marketers is. FB seems like a business with long tails. If we're talking $1B annual chunk of FB's $70B, and the pause is probably til november at the longest = 0.5B, it's a hit but not a death blow also wonder if big brands were ever a fit for hyper-targeted ads -- they're not suing for mesothelioma or trying to drive a single sale, they're blanketing media to maintain public awareness also wonder if social platforms will tweak visibility rules to make it harder for big brands to spread the word organically
- booleandilemma 6y agoDo brands as well-known as Starbucks and Coca-Cola really need to advertise on social media at all? I've ever met a person who isn't familiar with these brands. Let them save money, they don't need to be on these platforms. Worst case, a few "social media managers" are out of work. The world will get by.
- JMTQp8lwXL 6y agoIt's a reminder that "Oh yeah, I enjoy Brand X, I should get some of their product". You may enjoy Coca Cola, but if nobody around you drinks a can, and you don't ever see an ad, you're less likely to remain a consumer of the brand. It's also why you might continue getting ads for subscriptions you pay for. They want to remind you of the value continually provided-- it's for retention purposes.
- rvz 6y agoThis may apply to lesser-known 'influencers' that depend on ads and can't afford to suspend them to 'fight hate speech' or participate in this 'effort'. Unless they have outside revenue like sponsorship deals, Patreon, etc.
- adamsea 6y agoI"m not an advertising expert but I'd imagine those brands became well-known largely because of their advertising, and that continuing to advertising helps maintain their mindshare/encouraging people to "default" to those brand choices.
- amiga_500 6y agoYes, because they need to make you feel like your life is incomplete and can be completed if you pay them for X. Coca Cola makes people fat and gives them tooth decay. Their product has a socially negative value. It's essential that they counter these facts with positive images.
- Spivak 6y agoI uhh… what? We’re talking about a soda manufacturer here. Look I mean I get the crusade against sugar and being mindful about how many calories are in a bottle. But that’s a harsh opinion about fizzy water that lots of people enjoy drinking enough to pay a premium for. Nobody buys a candy bar because of some existential crisis. Like do you hold the same opinion of coffee shops that sell sugary drinks, pastry shops, candy makers, snack food makers, ice cream shops, breweries, distilleries? Does “treats taste good” not qualify as a positive? Like it’s wild to me to think that if I served you a piece of chocolate cake you would be like “how dare you! It has excessive calories and will rot my teeth!”
- LatteLazy 6y agoThey've advertised on these platforms for years. It wasn't a problem when hate groups popped up or Russians interfered with elections or privacy concerns were highlighted. Right now they desperately need to cut their advertising budget (and some other budgets) because of coronavirus. So obviously this is a principled act not self interested bullshit trying to whitewash an economic decision.
- m0zg 6y agoHeh. Political ads are getting cheaper with each passing day it looks like. As more and more advertisers withdraw, the overall CPC will go down. FB, Twitter, et al are going to get even more cancerous as a result, driving further advertiser exodus. The solution to this is offering sustained use discounts, like Google Cloud does. Have ongoing campaigns at a certain spending level? FB takes a slightly smaller cut, so you pay less. Turn shit on and off all the time? FB takes a larger cut, so you pay what you'd normally pay.
- perl4ever 6y agoI wonder if Facebook and others will miss earnings. This seems to be gathering speed.
- brewdad 6y agoObviously, this "pause" hasn't begun yet. I got a fresh sponsored post from Starbucks on my Facebook feed 2 minutes ago. The article didn't give a start date. Does anyone know more?
- soared 6y agoStarbucks doesn’t have a big red button so pausing can take a few days. Starbucks contacts their marketing agency, who goes to their digital marketing agency, who goes to their media buying agency, who goes to their vendor, etc.