There's nothing unusual about a brand running a loyalty scheme, but Starbucks have done something a little different by running theirs across multiple international markets. The firm's new Starbucks Card provides customers with a fast and simple way to pay for coffee in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Thailand.
While the worldwide ubiquity of American restaurant brands comes in for a lot of criticism - creating identikit streets from Seattle to Sydney - it's an inescapable fact that people like to frequent a name they know and trust. Sure, there may be better local coffee, but if you're unfamiliar to a country and on-the-go, there isn't always time to go local. Starbuck's initiative works because it recognises its internationalism and makes something good of it, instead of apologising for it. Clever.
The idea opens the floodgates for hundreds of other international brands emulate this thinking and link up their marketing to communicate to customers at the international level for which they're known. In today's global economy, for many brands it really makes sense.
