Ellee Seymour reports her experience of emailing Clifff Burrows, president of Starbucks for Europe, Middle East and Africa, after hearing him speak at an event. She simply sent him a link to a recent post regarding her son’s craving for the brand whilst in hospital. As well as a personal response, asking after Ellee’s son, she received a surprise box of Starbucks goodies.
This approach was spot on for Ellee and she now appears to be an absolute advocate for the brand. As an example of effective blogger outreach, the personal contact contrasts with the way we’ve seen many brands and their public relations consultants seek to influence the content of posts and gain endorsement.
It seems genuine – and rather than simply raising ethical questions, sending Ellee a range of Starbucks items seems more of a generous gift than a bribe to blog.
This was not a mass market strategy to target bloggers, but recognised the value of connecting with a mother whose son was a fan of a brand. As a blogger, Ellee provides a personal, but powerful, endorsement. Her enthusiasm could well influence the opinions of others towards Starbucks – hence enhancing the company’s reputation.
It’s an interesting case study – small but effective.
Greenbanana: PR + more 
Cliff seems to be a very down to earth approachable person, that’s what I liked about him. He asked me to keep in touch and let him know what I thought about his coffee. I suggested Starbucks should start a blog, but he said he was not a technical person, he is not really into blogs. His response was a genuine interaction. The whole philosophy of Starbucks is based on developing genuine relationships with staff and customers, as well their stakeholders. They are also very hot on CSR. The fact it is demonstrated from the top is fantastic.
Starbucks is coming to Truro. This may be the one thing to change my mind about the county og Cornwall, I may stay longer than I intended.