Keating, Saluan, Slavin, & Stechler 1

Group 2: Jesse Keating, Noelle Saluan, Chloe Slavin, Megan Stechler

COMM 470-51
25 October 2017
Organizational Brief: Starbucks
Mission Statement, indicating the purpose of the brand/ product
Starbucks Corporation is a global coffee company that has prided itself on sourcing,
purchasing, and roasting high-quality coffee since its single Seattle store opening in 1971. With
products on the shelves of many big-name retailers, a mobile app and more than 24,000 brick
and mortar locations worldwide as of 2015, Starbucks has grown from a local west-coast coffee
house to a global coffee staple competing with other coffee cafes including Dunkin Donuts,
Peet's Coffee, Caribou Coffee, Einstein Bros., Brueggers Bagels and other independent local
coffee houses.
Over its 46 years in operation, the brand portfolio has expanded in acquiring Starbucks
Coffee, Seattles Best Coffee, Teavana, Tazo, Evolution Fresh, La Boulange, Ethos Water and
Torrefazione Italia Coffee. However, they are best known for providing a constantly evolving
menu populated with 30 coffee blends, handcrafted beverages, fresh food and brand merchandise
targeted toward the savvy, sophisticated, on-the-go metropolitan young adult/adult coffee drinker
(Starbucks Company Profile, 2017, p.1).
Although this organization is known for its great tasting food and unique coffee
beverages, Starbucks sees itself as much more than a simple coffee chain; they are an
ambassador for human and world betterment. According to Starbucks website, the overarching
organizational mission is, to inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup and one
neighborhood at a time (Our Mission, 2017, pp.1).
To achieve this foundational mission of inspiring individuals and humanity as a whole,
Starbucks operates under several guiding values including creating a culture of warmth and
belonging, where everyone is welcome, acting with courage, challenging the status quo and
finding new ways to grow our company and each other, being present, connecting with
transparency, dignity and respect, and delivering our very best in all that we do, holding
ourselves accountable for results (Our Values, 2017, pp. 1-4). This company fulfills this
mission internally through viewing each of its 238,000 employees as individual partners who are
essential to the organization.
Expanding externally, Starbucks has worked to bring this mission and corresponding
values to life through its commitment to community service and humanity and environmental
wellness. In launching the multi-million dollar Starbucks Foundation, this organization is
providing opportunities for youth, community service, support for coffee, tea and cacao
communities, and access to clean water for nearly 500,000 people worldwide (Starbucks
Foundation, 2017, pp. 1-4). Additionally, the company has vowed source products ethically
through partnerships with Conservation International and Fair Trade and has also become a
leader for health conscious food and drink and environmentally friendly packaging.
 Keating, Saluan, Slavin, & Stechler 2

It is the overarching mission of Starbucks, and the actions that they have taken to achieve
this mission, that have allowed for the organization to be recognized as One of the Most
Admired Companies in America by Forbes from 2003-2015 and one of the Worlds Most
Ethical Companies by Ethisphere from 2007-2015 (Starbucks Company Recognition, 2017,
pp.1-2). These are only a few of the awards that Starbucks has received for commitment to its
mission; yet, they serve as a testament to the worldwide phenomenon that is Starbucks Coffee.

The structure that illustrates the commitment to social relationships

Starbucks Corporation operates their social media presence and strategy through an in-
house marketing team. Their in-house team is called their Global Social Media Team, which is
part of their Global Digital Marketing department. The team consists of social media managers,
community managers, and social media strategists. Each plays an important role in building and
executing content that consumers can connect with over their social platforms.
Social media managers lead the team of community managers that are responsible for
content, media, execution, and relationship management across social platforms for: Starbucks,
Evolution Fresh, Frappucino and Teavana (Kelly Broli, 2017, pp. 1). In addition, the social
media managers partner with other Starbucks global teams to create standardized communities of
practice for social worldwide (Kelly Broli, 2017, pp. 1). They also help drive ongoing strategy
and manage day-to-day social media execution (Kelly Broli, 2017, pp. 1).
Community managers handle Starbucks social media community management and crisis
lead for food, loyalty, technology and entertainment, and partnership content (Amy Gipsman,
2017, pp. 1). They collaborate with strategy, narrative, category, public affairs and paid media
teams to develop social campaigns. In addition, they serve as copywriters for their mission and
values, brand, loyalty and content for their social channels - from concept to execution (Skyler
Pascall, 2017, pp. 1). Community managers are given their own beat or speciality to focus on
within the company in their practice.
Social media strategists manage the ideation process of Starbucks social media efforts.
They provide insights to the brand through social listening and develop strategic project briefs to
ensure creative content produced is brand oriented and possesses a strong emotional appeal to
consumers (Erin Wigger, 2017, pp. 1). They measure paid and organic engagements from
Starbucks audiences and develop digital opportunities to increase recognition and promotion
(Erin Wigger, 2017, pp. 1)

PR and communication strategies, policies and procedures

Starbucks Corporation strives to create an inclusive and respectful online presence via
their social media guidelines. The organization is well known for its vibrant and emotionally
enticing social media campaigns, but these marketing ploys were not just set into motion by
chance - they were carefully crafted using the policies that reflect the companys mission and
mindset.
 Keating, Saluan, Slavin, & Stechler 3

Utilizing five different social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest,
Tumblr, Snapchat and Instagram, Starbucks strives to produce creative and captivating content
that is informative to their audience. However, according to the policies provided by the
corporation, user content has a list of stipulations that needs to be met. Starbucks states that user
content may not violate any applicable law, contain any obscene or profane language and must
explicitly state a relationship with Starbucks if employed or compensated by the corporation
(Starbucks Social Media Terms and Conditions, 2017, pp. 2).
The policies of the company also explicitly state that user content may not be accurate,
complete, reliable or up-to-date and Starbucks claims no liability for the content (Starbucks
Social Media Terms and Conditions, 2017, pp. 3). In addition to this, Starbucks reserves the right
to review and delete any user content posted to social channels that violates the terms and
conditions of the corporation.

References
 Keating, Saluan, Slavin, & Stechler 4

Amy Gipsman. (2017). Retrieved from

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-gipsman-
925ab321/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_top%3BOywpd80RTJ
Kb66142Daspg%3D%3D&licu=urn%3Ali%3Acontrol%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_top-
search_srp_result&lici=HKtaRR23TI%2BngQOUqOgakA%3D%3D
Erin Wigger. (2017). Retrieved from
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinwigger/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_searc
h_srp_top%3B6eN7kaH6QGe9fskJAHA90A%3D%3D&licu=urn%3Ali%3Acontrol%3
Ad_flagship3_search_srp_top-
search_srp_result&lici=hR4bjQ4TRACfWzWDApJpiQ%3D%3D
Kelly Broili. (2017). Retrieved from
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbroili/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_search_s
rp_top%3BafGqiQllQ4yWZU4lAw0lNA%3D%3D&licu=urn%3Ali%3Acontrol%3Ad_f
lagship3_search_srp_top-
search_srp_result&lici=7019w8n1Q%2B%2B7mjJlUUsj3g%3D%3D
Skyler Pascall. (2017). Retrieved from
https://www.linkedin.com/in/skyler-pascall-
a2690231/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_top%3BY2fNMYeuSh
WB8wdMTTdfSg%3D%3D&licu=urn%3Ali%3Acontrol%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_to
p-search_srp_result&lici=xZcgT%2Bd8RLOSlvZvbA%2FT8Q%3D%3D
Our Mission. (2017). Retrieved from
https://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information/mission-statement
Our Values. (2017). Retrieved from
https://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information/mission-statement
Starbucks Company Profile. (2017). Retrieved from
https://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information/starbucks-company-profile
Starbucks Company Recognition. (2017). Retrieved from
https://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information/starbucks-company-
recognition
Starbucks Foundation. (2017). Retrieved from
https://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/community/starbucks-foundation