Claim: Starbucks' Facebook audience is worth $1.8 billion annually

Yeah, right. (Even the research firm that came up with that number says to take it with a grain of salt.) Read "Starbucks' Facebook audience worth $1.8 billion"

Comments

[Barista Ben]

Okay so technically this might be true, in fake numbers. Same goes for people with huuuggeee twitter followers. Or podcasts with large audiences. Numbers don't mean anything unless you have a way of turning those numbers into a source of profit without pissing people off. That means clever ad's placed on the facebook page news feed to drive people into stores without being blatantly trying to sell people crap (like Via).

Having that many eyeballs is definitely a good thing for a company, and it is even worth a lot of money - but 1 follower hardly equals $1. It's just so much more complex then that.

[Melody]

That was an interesting article, but shows you how it's impossible to really figure out what all the fan followers/twitter followers really mean to Starbucks.

The article says that the average fans were spending $235 annually with Starbucks - "Syncapse found that fans of Starbucks annually spend $235 with the coffee brand - more than twice as much as non-fans."

That sounds like such a low estimate! Wow!
I am not sure you're really a fan of Starbucks at all if you're only spending $235 a year at Starbucks. That's a person coming in just a few times a month?

Oh well. Also, along these lines, I notice that Starbucks on twitter is closing in on close to one million followers! They have about 924,000!

[brokenbarista]

I LOVE this thread. For once it feels like there's a safe place to talk about this stuff! I've been a manager for over 8 years and I have always stood behind this company no matter what. Through all the 'transformation' I've thought, there must be a light at the end of the tunnel. No such luck. The last two years have probably cost me more in my health than Starbucks could ever pay me. I am a perfectionist. I hit my targets no matter what kind of grueling hours I have to put in. I wanted to be promoted. I've been sick more than ever, I've been in the hospital twice, and I feel pretty depressed and bleak about my future with Starbucks. They finally broke my spirit. I was the manager that inspired all the other managers to stay the course and stay positive. Now, I just don't care. There is no reward. No recognition. I was hitting all of my metrics, sales, via, labor, controllable etc... and on via challenge weekend my team went so far beyond expectation I thought I'd get a call from Howard himself. You know what happened instead? I got reprimanded for not selling enough the following week!! You can't win at starbucks. Your efforts and results are never enough. I mean, when you're meeting all your targets and that still isn't enough what else can be expected? I'm still with Starbucks, but I am planning my exit. I will continue to do 100% for my partners and my customers, as well as for myself, but I do absolutely NOTHING out of passion for this company anymore. Way to go Starbucks. You should be ashamed for creating a culture that has so dehumanized its "partnners" that we have no hope that it will ever get better.
Howard said at a leadership conference that he once said to the upper leadership "I sometimes wonder if we deserve the people that work for us" I can answer that for you; YOU DON'T!

I will be counting the minutes until I get to put in my notice and move on to a happier, less stressful life.

[brokenbarista]

ummm...sorry. I was trying to post this on a different thread.

[usorthem3]

@brokenbarista I never thought I would feel that exact same as one else, especially a SM but I feel like we fail as a store on a daily basis given what we are allowed to work with labor wise. Every since they recalibrated the ASL to where -1% is now O% it will never return no matter how much the company makes in profit. The stores will always be like this from now on. I lost respect for Howard when he made a phone call on the 3rd Dec 08 and then disappeared for the next 8 weeks. L.E.A.N. has killed the spirit in a few older employees that know the same feeling day after day. I used to like to go to work but now, I'm there, bout it. Like I say, mathematically controlled coffee shops have no soul, it's $$ and who's ass to kiss to get IMO. It has "transformed" into the company it always says it is not. Congrats on your decision to leave and be happy. Cool Runnings on your future journeys.

[8days2go]

Wow, brokenbarista, you sound like me about a month ago. I've loved this company and stayed the course for seven years. Watched most of my mentors leave. I stayed for my team and the misguided notion that I could keep "old school" starbucks alive within my store. I don't have it in me anymore and can't stand to miss my goals and targets so my last day is next Friday. I'm going out with my head held high.
Good luck on the job hunt.

[Tired and Loving it]

www.swearingsiren.com

Its my stress relief, and works!

[a former broken barista now happy]

brokenbarista, I was in your shoes 10+ years ago. I think the company started to crumble back @1997-1998. I know how you feel. Its heartbreaking to see something you used to love and put so much energy into go to hell, and then the company slaps you in the face. They expect you to say "Thank You, Sir, May I have another?" Best of Luck to you. SBC won't make changes until they realize all the talent is gone. As soon as SBC started to explode with new stores I knew the whole partner concept would go to crap. I worked at SB in Chicago before stores even opened in NYC. When I started there were less than 10 stores in Chicago - our staff went to NYC to open them there. That was the beginning of the end. Sadly, many dont remember what it used to be like in the old days - they think we're like McDonalds now. I am having good thoughts for you. YOU WILL GET A GREAT JOB SOMEWHERE!

[me, myself and I]

I am with you brokenbarista,
5 years did the trick for me. I'll be gone in a few weeks, too. Notice has already been given. You can't win anymore. And even though I am not in charge as a SM (I am just a barista, by choice, dear gc) I am sick of seeing my SM failing in the DMs eyes because we allegedly don't do enough as a team.
I wouldn't want to be a SM at Starbucks these days, even if they would pay me twice as much as they are paying on average.

[Darth Sidam]

Whats awesome is I have 260 friends on facebook and since most are baristas and are only paid on average 11k a year that I am worth $2.8 Million! And that is only per year!

[Jason Coffee]

That number is arbitrary and doesn't really have any practical implications. I think a more worthy thing to track would be how much MORE each customers spends once they become a fan.

[Jordan 1]

Great men always have their own unique charm, besides is to let the audience like TV role, especially need personality is bright.