Starbucks Says Hello Again and Finds the Right Blend

For Ad Of The Week this week we’re taking a look at Starbucks’ big reintroduction and how it’s panning out in creative effectiveness terms. Starbucks’ “Hello Again” is a back to their roots campaign from Anomaly LA. It’s designed to reintroduce the brand to the American public and remind them of the heart of Starbucks’ positioning – a community space with coffee at the heart of it.

This is a high-stakes campaign for Starbucks, whose rise from a local Seattle chain to a global brand revolutionized the coffee shop sector in the 90s and 00s, inspiring dozens of imitators and shelves of books analyzing the cultural change Starbucks drove. The center of the brand’s appeal was its understanding that the coffee shop was a “third place”, neither work nor home. It’s a community where you could hang out with friends, get things done, or just stop by for a delicious cup of coffee.

Starbucks also helped popularize the idea of the highly personalized cup of coffee, and the concept of a huge range of coffee flavors and styles, summed up by its iconic Pumpkin Spice Latte. But with this expansion there’s a danger that the core appeal of the brand might be lost, and so “Hello Again” has a particular job: reintroduce Starbucks as a place where coffee and community comes first.

This flagship ad aired just before the Super Bowl, and it’s a bold statement of intent. A collage of beans and baristas is soundtracked by AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck”. The hard rock classic gets the audience’s blood pumping and brings a sense of excitement to the ad. It’s a commercial designed to remind people of everything they like about Starbucks, with a simple message – we are so back, and we’re ready to serve you your favorite coffee.

How does “Hello Again” score with consumers? In effectiveness terms, it gives the brand a significant jolt. On our Test Your Ad platform the ad is a top performer on short-term and recognition metrics, with Exceptional scores on the sales-predicting Spike Rating and on the vital Brand Fluency score. The ad is well set to get people through the doors of Starbucks and reinforce its mental availability over rivals.

But what about branding and long-term effectiveness? Here the ad gets a good score, with a 3.6-Star Rating, a full Star above the average for the coffee sector. What’s most interesting from a competitive perspective is that the ad outscored rival Dunkin’s celebrity-packed Super Bowl ad, aired on the same night. Starbucks’ back-to-basics approach and thrilling soundtrack proved a far more emotional and compelling proposition for a mass audience.

But away from the Super Bowl, are Starbucks and Anomaly LA on the right track with this reintroduction? Other evidence suggests they are. A second ad in the same style, this time to the tune of the Ting Ting’s 00s hit “That’s Not My Name”, puts the focus on Starbucks’ practice of writing names on their cups for customers. It’s another iconic bit of branding and it gets a similar, but even higher set of scores to “Hello Again” – Exceptional short-term effectiveness and recognition and very good long-term impact with a Star Rating of 3.8

Ads that reintroduce a famous brand require focus and discipline, but they also have to be engaging, not just recognizable. Thanks to dynamic direction and pulse-racing soundtracks, Starbucks and Anomaly have found the right blend.