Starbucks' "Pledge to Do Some Green" Campaign

Just stumbled across the new Starbucks Canada marketing campaign, and I think it has a lot going for it.

Here’s how it works: You log on to the Starbucks Canada's Facebook page, “PLEDGE TO DO SOME GREEN”, and get rewarded with a free tall cup of Pike Place Roast coffee. Sounds pretty good, right?

To redeem your coffee, you need to fill out a pledge form outlining what act of green you’re planning to carry out for your community. These range from using a reusable mug every time you visit Starbucks, to planting a children’s garden, to donating to the partner charity, Evergreen. After submitting the form, you’ll get an e-mail coupon for your coffee. It’s a great idea for Starbucks to give away a cup of coffee this way rather than just handing them out in stores. Every pledge form filled out contains a customer’s address, and other personal information. To the person filling out a pledge form, it’s 2 minutes work for a free coffee. To Starbucks, this campaign will create a valuable source of demographic information. My guess is that if x number of people in your now Starbucks-starved neighbourhood are taking the time to fill out this pledge form, you can expect a new café springing up sometime soon. Also, I’m sure a lot of people redeeming their coupons for a free tall coffee are going to splurge on one of those pizza-size cookies or the signature lemon cakes. And I can’t blame them, that stuff’s delicious.

Starbucks is moving marketing dollars onto social media (much like Pepsi and other major corporations), focusing on green marketing, and including a free giveaway. All smart moves! I also like that that the company has partnered with a Canadian charity, Evergreen, in rolling out this campaign. If the national angle wasn’t enough, they’re encouraging you to get involved in doing green in your community. It’s a good idea for Starbucks to get its Canadian customers thinking they’re doing good in Canada and in your own neighbourhood. It’s a stretch to think people will start identifying Starbucks as a local coffee shop rather than the international megalith it is, but I think this initiative and others like it could get Starbucks a little more credibility with the “I live green and shop locally” crowd. Note: Those guys drink a lot of coffee.

And imagine the future advertising opportunities that this campaign produces: The amount that Starbucks manages to raise for Evergreen will be impressive. I’m sure there will be tree plantings and community beautifications inspired by this, and that certainly creates buzz.

All in all, this thing makes a lot of sense.

the-o-dot: My New Favourite Ottawa-Based Blog

My good friend Megan recently told me about a hilarious new Ottawa area blog: the-o-dot. This new blog, launched only last month, is essentially The Onion for Ottawans. My favourite article so far is entitled "Subdued Glebe Residents Eagerly Await 'Helix' Concert, 'Zipper' Ride at This Year's SuperEx." So sarcastic - I love it. Other highlights include an article detailing the planned Westboro gateway arch reading "Wasptown" and an article announcing the completion of the new Ottawa IKEA store delayed due to a missing giant allen key. This new blog is definitely a must have on any Ottawa blogroll.

Social Media and the Pakistan Flood

The Disaster

As you know by now, Pakistan is dealing with the affects of devastating flooding. The United Nations estimates that 2 thousand people have been killed, six million have been left homeless, and over 22 million are now directly affected by flooding. According to a New York Times article, there are legitimate concerns about the “economy, food supply and political stability” in the country.

Jane Cocking, the humanitarian director at Oxfam, has said that the disaster is multi-faceted: "...what we have is a single, long event that has the scale of the [Asian] tsunami, the devastation of Haiti, and the complexity of the Middle East. (Source: BBC article)

The Response

Though many were critical of the international response to this disaster, especially early on, aid levels have been increasing, and governments are beginning to do more to help. Yesterday, the Canadian government agreed to match Canadian private donations to registered charities. Because of the scale and ongoing nature of the disaster, increased aid is certainly required.

Social Media’s Role

As has become custom in major humanitarian disasters, social media has played a vital role in coordinating relief, spreading awareness, and raising funds for those in need. It’s widely known that users of Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and other social media sites have contributed greatly to the relief efforts in the Asian Pacific, Haiti and elsewhere, but the approach to leveraging social media for humanitarian needs, the players involved, and the tools available have all changed.

In past disasters, the use of social media as a tool to grow awareness and help people on the ground has come about organically. That is to say, people have used channels they normally use, Facebook for instance, to communicate extraordinary messages. Now that the impact social media can have on relief efforts is well documented, groups have begun to try to better organize their approach. With a press release on Friday, Aug 20, two groups, Pakistani Peace Builders (PPB) and ML Resources Social Vision (ML Social Vision), launched Relief4Pakistan, a global and grassroots campaign designed to raise awareness and funds for flood victims in Pakistan. The campaign will be relying heavily on social media tools, and the involvement of Pakistani-American actor Faran Tahir (Iron Man, Star Trek). This sort of organized approach to engaging the public on social media platforms in the wake of a disaster will be the norm going forward, and I predict it will have meaningful results.

In addition to the changing approach to using social media to help those in need, the scope of players involved in social media has grown considerably. The United States Air Force issued a press release earlier this month outlining the value of the U.S. Embassy’s Facebook page, and the State Department’s Youtube channel and Flikr page for flood victims and aid workers.

On the technological end, there are new tools being used to help first responders and aid organizations on the ground in Pakistan. Google’s Resource Finder is a “web-based tool that allows anyone to enter and update information on health facilities and the availability of hospital beds and medical services. It was primarily designed to help relief workers identify neighboring health facilities so that they can efficiently arrange patient transfers,” explains Google Product Manager Prem Ramaswami. This is the first time it has been used during a disaster situation. (See it here)

Social media's involvement in disaster relief will continue to evolve and expand in the future. Hopefully the new tools, new organizational approaches, and unexpected players in the social media game will have a positive impact on getting aid to those who need it.

How I Would Fix Ottawa's Transit Problem

The city of Ottawa is now one step closer to implementing its most recent Light Rail Transit (LRT) plan after receiving environmental approval from the province this week. According to Mayor O’Brien and other city councillors, this is a major step towards making the plan a reality.

The Ottawa LRT system will include a 12 km rail transit line that will run from Tunney’s Pasture to Blair Station. Within the line, there will be a 3 km tunnel serving the downtown core from LeBreton Flats to the University of Ottawa.

Estimated Cost: $2.1 billion. And remember, it’s not often that these city projects come in on time and on budget. Plus, that estimate doesn’t take into account the obvious economic hit that downtown businesses will take while 3 km of road is dug up to make way for an underground tunnel. We won’t even get into the roughly $37 million spent on settling a lawsuit after the cancellation of the last plan. Needless to say, this thing is expensive.

I have another idea to fix Ottawa’s traffic/public transport problem. Well, it’s not mine really, and it’s not going to happen here, but imagine if it did. The idea: giant catamaran-looking buses that cars can drive under.

Huh? A Chinese design and technology firm, Shenzen Huashi Future Parking Equipment, has designed buses that will straddle the two sides of a road, and load passengers from raised platforms. All the while, cars and trucks under 2 m high can drive under the bus unimpeded. Though this all sounds like science fiction, these things are supposed to be on the road in Beijing’s Mentougou district by the end of this year. Imagine one of these shuttling commuters from Albert st. to Hurdman Station. Imagine that stretch of buses parked on Rideau st. in the afternoons replaced with a few driving catamarans with taxi’s and traffic driving underneath.

The video of the technology has gone viral this month. I saw it first on engadget.com. (See their story here) The “3D Bus” has been featured on the New York Times Wheels blog and in the UK’s Independent. People are understandably fascinated by something that seems like it makes so much sense.

The article in the Independent lays out my argument pretty clearly: “the advantages are obvious - it requires far less building than a light rail or subway system, it's unaffected by congestion, it doesn't impede traffic and, as it's powered by solar or electric cabling, it's pretty green.”

After Ottawa spends billions of dollars and a few years on this LRT plan, I wonder if we’ll be wishing we went with these buses.

Spruce Up Those Corporate Walls

Are your office walls looking a little drab? Do you want to impress guests and clients with some eye-catching works of art without breaking the bank? Montreal-based company ArtAnywhere has a solution for you.

The Globe and Mail caught up with founder Raymond Luk to discuss the program, which connects artists with potential buyers via the business world. His start-up provides "a low-risk solution where an organization could arrange for the installation of a free temporary gallery of original artwork in their office. Businesses are able to add inspiration to their staid workplaces and artists are provided with the chance to display their art in visible, well-trafficked locations without having to pay for exhibition space."

Pretty cool idea.

Try a Touch Point Audit

The Canadian Marketing Association's Canadian Marketing Blog featured a thoughtful article this week recommending that all businesses should do a "touch point audit" on an annual basis to ensure that they are providing their clients or customers with the best possible experience. The article is authored by SalesFertilizer.com's founder, Shelley McQuade. Essentially, McQuade argues that professionals get wrapped up in their day-to-day business, time goes by, and they take their touch points for granted.

McQuade recommends the following process of a touch point audit:

First, establish your positioning. Sit down and decide what message you want to convey. Then document it. Next, pull together samples in the three key categories [communications and media - advertising through invoicing; environment or space; and the people delivering the goods] and run them through your "positioning" filter. Are they on target or wandering off in a different direction? Prioritize and identify your biggest "touch point" offenders and plan to change them ASAP. You should set a three-month goal to get all of your offenders in line.

I think making it a priority to reexamine your touch points each year in order to ensure that you're doing all you can to serve your customers or clients in the best possible way is great advice.