One of the most honorable corporate web3 / blockchain efforts has come to a close. Starbucks did a lot of things “right” but still couldn’t make it work. What does this mean for enterprise web3 loyalty programs?
Some are calling it a “rug pull“, but I personally found this program – although not successful in the long-term – to be a great journey that:
- Improved my opinion of Starbucks as a coffee brand
- Successfully educated me about Starbucks operations, and especially their sustainability initiatives
- Was overall a net-positive experience with some unique perks, games and community
Adam Hollander in the twitter thread below summarizes my perspective well, so go see what other people are saying about #StarbucksOddysey
Was this a good web3 loyalty program?
Steffen Boller wrote a great summary of the program from a business perspective, and I arrived at the same conclusion:
“it is not easy at all, to come up with a meaningful Web 3.0 program.”
This feedback and many of the comments will tell you the answer is NO 🚫
But I would say it wasn’t a complete loss, Starbucks showed they were ‘in the know’ with web3 by picking up on a lot of the “winning pieces” of web3 initiatives and permanently improve their brand value by meeting collectors in the moment.
Over the course of 1+ years, I acquired a variety of “stamps”, NFTs that were mostly free, earned by playing games and learning about Starbucks.
See some examples below, with more detail available from my Nifty Gateway account here
The program enjoyed an engaged community, and turned some fence-sitters into brand fans. What more do we want from a loyalty program, really?
Keep in mind, folks – nothing lasts forever; and this program lasted for an eternity in NFT-dog-years (over 1 year). So I’ll just say: DEAR STARBUCKS Thnks fr th Mmrs 🤘🙏