Vote Starbucks 2020

Lean Data and the Conscious Chooser

Vote with your money. That’s the adage. Does it work? I think so, but it takes a movement. As only one person, each of us is relatively powerless to change macro-system problems on our own. But together, in the aggregate, history shows that we can make changes. Big changes. Labor laws. Civil rights. Human rights.

The previous generation ratcheted up globalization and imposed a kind of “utility-value-ification” on the consumer world, where nearly every buying decision revolved around how cheap and how fast.

Times, they are changing.

A new consumer has begun to exert its economic influence, and it’s a segment not ruled by “lowest-price-wins,” “save-in-bulk” decision making. This new consumer will do more for something made sustainably or locally or with a specific political bent. This consumer wants, not just a higher quality product, but the hope of a higher quality of life for all stakeholders involved in the transaction. They see the human connection underneath the globalism. They see the way all things depend on each other to thrive. They want to trust those they do business with.

This is the worldview of the “Conscious Chooser.”

Change starts with the One-in-10

Research we’ve initiated at Mozilla estimates the market size of the Conscious Chooser segment is about 21% of the roughly 3.5 billion people who have internet access today. That’s 750 million people across the globe — one-in-10 people worldwide — who say they care how things they buy are produced and delivered, and they consider how much they trust the companies and people who reap the economic benefit from their purchases.

Gone are the days when one dissatisfied customer tells ten friends. Now thousands, maybe millions, of potential customers hear the saga firsthand. And as this infographic from Inc. Magazine shows, the cost of an unhappy customer is huge. Digital-native Conscious Choosers have a disproportional impact on brands they disagree with — and for the ones they love.

How do you spot a Conscious Chooser in the wild? Generally, they are the people who seek purpose in their purchase.

• They want to feel informed and in control.
• They index higher in awareness on issues like “privacy”.
• They have a Millennial mindset — if not actually in their 20s to mid-30s, they still think young.
• They do more research and tell more friends what they think.

Most importantly, Conscious Choosers consider brand to be more than advertising, logo design and slogans. Brand, for the Conscious Consumer, begins with trust.

Starbucks for President

Starbucks immediately comes to my mind as a great example of a large-cap Conscious Chooser brand. Chairman and former CEO Howard Schultz runs an amazing coffee company, but I think we all know it’s not just about coffee and counting the beans. Schultz has used his company to tap into something much bigger that people want and need to believe in. And they can vote for it every day with their $5 daily grind.

It’s a good vote. Starbucks offers its employees health insurance at a time where major brands make outsourcing and contracting arrangements to avoid those costs. When the recent U.S. executive order against refugees dominated news cycles last month, Starbucks went public with a progressive plan to hire 10,000 refugees and to provide free legal support for employees and their families who are dealing with the ban. Starbucks also reiterated a plan to hire 10,000 veterans and to continue offering tuition-free education benefits through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan, a benefit that also extends to spouses or children.

I could go on and on, because not only does this sound like the kind of company I want to buy from, it’s the kind of politics I could get into, as well. It helps Starbucks enormously that their employees, customers and corporate culture all align so well with an atmosphere of social issues, conversation and caffeinated debate. But none of that happened by accident. That’s the political brand coming together with the business brand in full force!

Howard Schultz has not only led Starbucks in the reimagining of a “third place” or public hall in our lives, but he’s also delivering on his promise to lead with a “lens on humanity.” In the past we’ve complained that corporations shouldn’t have the same rights as people. Perhaps we’ve overlooked the possibility that there can be good corporations that use that power, too. Perhaps corporate rule and Big Data have a new opposing candidate to deal with: corporate leadership and Big Heart.

Token corporate-responsibility marketing campaigns designed to mine data from email lists will no longer fool the true Conscious Chooser. In an open, digital world, Starbucks is using the timeless basics of authenticity and vision to grow its own demand curve for ethical behavior and transparency — from the activism of employee rights and gender discrimination, to the fundamentals of supply chain innovation and managing debt.

For the Conscious Chooser like me the point remains: If it only costs a little more to buy coffee from a company that provides for its employees and takes up social responsibility initiatives I agree with, count me in. If Starbucks wants to hire veterans and refugees, provide health care and education to support to its employees, and lead with a “lens on humanity,” they get my vote. Same for paper towels or shoes or concrete. Or electronics. Or web browsers.