How Spotify & Starbucks Will Benefit From Partnership
Love them or hate them, Starbucks can be a tremendous asset in growth for any brand looking to get in front of millions upon millions of customers on a daily basis.
This week Spotify and Starbucks announced a deal where Starbucks customers will be able to influence in-store playlists and Spotify Premium will be promoted.
On the facade of any press release, you see the benefit to the loyal customers and members and new services and products they’ll now get access to. Basically, all good things to come and the brand is doing it all for you. This is great but businesses need to turn a profit as well. So exactly what does this new alliance between Spotify and Starbucks actually mean for their bottom lines? The following are a couple key words and themes from the press release and short definitions on how they translate to growth and profit.
Key Phrases & Translations
Interconnectivity: “This interconnectivity will allow Starbucks MSR members unique access to Starbucks music on Spotify”
Translation: We’re going to blast Spotify all over your MSR app so you have no other choice to try it (if you aren’t already). Spotify gets direct mobile access to millions of tech savvy Starbucks evangelists, ideally a core segment that hasn’t ventured into ondemand music streaming. (think soccer moms who only know Pandora or Michael Buble Christmas CDs from the Starbucks counter)
Partner-influenced Playlists: “This fall, Starbucks partners can help shape the in-store music programming using tools provided by Spotify. These partner-influenced playlists will then be accessible on Spotify via the Starbucks Mobile App so that customers can stream music anywhere, anytime from their mobile device.”
Translation: Starbucks-friendly artists will get prime placement to amplify their music to Spotify users, most likely in the form of a limited Spotify feature on the Starbucks app. You can choose music, but just within the scope of artists Startbucks determines.
Stars as Currency Rewards: “In addition, Spotify users will enjoy opportunities to obtain (Stars as Currency) for My Starbucks Rewards loyalty program.”
Translation: Starbucks gets to engage Spotify users to expand their rewards program bringing a larger untapped audience into their ecosystem. Spotify users that didn’t know they could rack up points when they buy their mocha frappes will now be incentivized to buy more.
Whatever way you look at it, this partnership deals represents a huge opportunity for both Spotify and Starbucks to expand their brand reach as well as bolster key artists deals within both camps.
