Starbucks, one of my favorite places in the retail world, recently opened up a Salesforce brainstorm forum to get ideas for their customers (thanks to Jeff Jarvis over at BuzzMachine for the tip).
The "forum" is really a mixture of a lot of social media tools. You and other users can add your "Starbucks idea", almost like a Twitter stream. Other people can vote on it (like Digg or Reddit). Other people can comment on it (like a blog) and all of this brainstorming is coming up with some very interesting ideas.
Starbucks customers are fairly passionate about their Starbucks. It's interesting to see how many people tout Starbuck's messaging or purpose or mission in the discussions. While some of these may be employees (partners), it's clear that some of them are just plain Starbucks customers. How many brands can say that their customers understand the behind the goals or mission statement of the company?
I give major kudos to Starbucks for opening up the conversation with their customers. I hope it leads to positive change that will benefit both customers and the company. It can be scary for companies to open themselves up to be so vulnerable to attack and criticism, but I believe as social media progresses it'll be the only way for companies to thrive.
I signed up for my own account and was happy at how easy the Salesforce platform was to use. I was a bit confused by the voting though - I thought you'd be able to vote against a certain suggestion only to find out you can only vote for it. I inadvertently voted for some of the suggestions I disagreed with.
And, of course, now I really want a carmel macchiato.
Link to original post