
STARBUCKS ---mmmmmgood -- not just the coffee...the experience too....Not so suddenly, STARBUCKS is much more than a coffee shop -- it's a NETWORK too according to founder and chairman Howard Schultz at the Starbucks annual meeting earlier this week as reported on ADAGE.COM
(NOTE blogger Joyce Schwarz will be attending a dinner sponsored by Digital Coast Roundtable and will report what Starbuck's President of Entertainment Ken Lombard says regarding these show biz developments at the chain.)
Becoming a digital network
In its attempts to extend the brand beyond its four walls into entertainment and the community in what he called “the Starbucks effect,” Mr. Schultz said the company has the largest Wi-Fi footprint of Internet hotspots, but it has yet to adequately leverage the service. He hopes to soon use that footprint to tap into the digital downloading craze by providing content for consumers.
While he said the CD business “has a very long life,” having Wi-Fi gives Starbucks a "unique proprietary competitive advantage.” “We understand the cultural relevancy of digital fill-up. I can’t say when, but it’s in our future.” He wouldn't provide many specifics but said the company may partner with entertainment or Internet providers to create a proprietary network. “Starbucks is a network,” Mr. Schultz said according to a report in AD AGE and on paidcontent.org.
OTHER STARBUCKS ENTERTAINMENT VENTURES INCLUDE:
*LionsGate film “Akeelah and the Bee.” in-store promo including buzz from the Baristas who appear to be taking on a role of "influencers' in their various communities or at least in the local shops.
*WORDS COME BACK TO ME: Starbucks' entertainment unit also plans to release a debut CD, "Words Came Back to Me," from 16-year-old Sonya Kitchell, to be released simultaneously at Starbucks and music retailers through Velour Music Group and Starbucks Hear Music.
*Eight Grammy awards for the late Ray Charles’ “Genius Loves Company” and the debut of the band Antigone Rising, which sold 121,000 CD units since May in Starbucks.
MORE STARBUCKS SHOW BIZ NEWS NEWS AND COMPLETE ANNUAL REPORT STORY: Advertising Age
LIVE ON STAGE AT STARBUCKS' ANNUAL MEETING. A Corporate Agenda to Expand Music Business and Launch Digital Download Network ... Anyway, at Starbucks' annual meeting in Seattle yesterday, chairman Howard Shultz spoke about, among other things, digital media. ... "Entertaining" Starbucks annual shareholders meeting is a quick sell-out. The company has angered some stockholders who wanted to attend its annual meeting ...starbucksgossip.typepad.com/ _/2005/01/starbucks_isnt_.html - 13k - And its broader goal of, as Starbucks Entertainment CEO Ken Lombard puts it, "transforming the way music is discovered and delivered" seems like marketing ... XM Radio - STARBUCKS "HEAR MUSIC" CHANNEL PREMIERES ON XM RADIO Brand Autopsy: UPDATE | Starbucks Hear Music Media Bars • 1995: Starbucks
teams with Blue Note Records to begin producing CD compilations for sale in stores. • 1999: Starbucks
acquires Hear Music, a chain of record stores in the San Francisco area. • 2004: Starbucks
Hear Music Coffeehouse opens in Santa Monica, Calif. • 2004: Starbucks
Hear Music media bar is launched at stores in Seattle and Austin, Texas. • 2004: Ray Charles'
Genius Loves Company CD, is co-produced by Starbucks Hear Music and Concord Records. • 2004: Starbucks
Hear Music Channel 75 on XM Satellite Radio network is launched. • 2005: Starbucks
Hear Music Debut CD series is launched with Antigone Rising. • 2005: Alanis Morissette's J
agged Little Pill Acoustic is released exclusively at Starbucks' stores
for the first six weeks. • 2005: Bob Dylan's
Live at the Gaslight 1962 is distributed exclusively at Starbucks
stores for 18 months. • 2005: Starbucks
co-releases Herbie Hancock's Possibilities and the Rollings Stones' Rarities: 1971-2003. • 2005: Starbucks Hear Music
Coffeehouse opens in San Antonio, Texas. • 2006: Starbucks Entertainment
and Lionsgate announce a partnership to market and distribute the film Akeelah and the Bee. • 2006: Starbucks Hear Music
Coffeehouse to open today at 605 Lincoln Rd. in Miami Beach. Opening was scheduled
for late 2005 but delayed because of Hurricane Wilma construction issues. • 2006: Starbucks Hear Music
will co-release Sergio Mendes' Timeless on Feb. 14. • 2006: Sonya Kitchell will be
the second artist featured in the Hear Music Debut CD series
to be released April 4. SOURCE: STARBUCKS------ |
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