In recent years Starbucks have increasingly focused budgets below-the-line. In 2004, Starbucks challenged us to deliver an above-the-line strategy for no above-the-line investment. The solution had to strengthen loyalty, recruit new customers and promote the brand and product range across the year.

We have created a sustainable newspaper strategy for Starbucks worth over £1.5m of media inventory. As a ‘newspaper retailer’ they also receive the standard 25% of cover price for every copy sold. All without any above-the-line spend.TNL sold their first ‘Starbucks’ paper on March 30th, and now sell 3,000 a day.

Times Newspapers Ltd. offered the best demographic, attitudinal and recruitment fit. In March, the Times and Sunday Times went on sale exclusively in 265 Starbucks stores.Integration of benefits was central to the impact of both medium and message. We created a new route to market for TNL; created an enhanced retail experience for the consumer; and in exchange received over £1.5m of free media space for Starbucks in the Times and Sunday Times.

This partnership represented a first for the UK. It was backed by an extensive co-branded campaign, including in-store marketing, radio and outdoor. In paper Starbucks were given their own solus space across both week-day and weekend issues. To optimise TNL’s own touch-points we focused ‘take-away’ messages around weekday main news sections, and ‘relaxation’ messages within weekend supplements.

Starbucks is about stimulating relaxation. Newspapers are about relaxing stimulation. They go hand in hand. Consumer insight highlighted that young urban consumers were abandoning newsagents and were more likely to pick up their daily coffee fix than buy a newspaper.It also highlighted that by lunchtime, Starbuck’s own free newspapers were torn, covered in coffee or missing altogether. Newspaper brands needed a new route to market; Starbucks needed a reliable supply of complete and clean newspapers. Our strategy would be to trade the assets of Starbucks’ brand, environment and consumer for a sustainable communications presence with a major national newspaper (The Times).

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