Saw this post on brazencareerist.com, and it caught my eye because I had no idea Starbucks had launched this site, which is interesting considering I’m a regular customer and in the communications industry! Clearly that’s a huge issue that Starbucks should address immediately.

Other than that, I agree with you– the site is pretty bland. On an aesthetic level, there are little-to-no graphics to break up the monotony of the pages. Pictures help capture attention, which facilitates dialogue… and isn’t that the whole point?

That brings me to my other concern. While I am very happy to see more prominent companies participating in two-way conversations with their target audiences, I wonder how many of the ideas will actually move from the “under review” section to being implemented.

It will be an interesting concept to follow, and I really hope Starbucks comes through and proves that social media is the way of the future.

Take care!

To be clear, I’m not faulting Starbucks for putting someone else’s good idea to use. To me, Starbucks is a global brand that is working towards being not just a mediocre company, but an exceptional company (what every company should work toward). “My Starbucks Idea” was a mediocre step, not an exceptional one. They certainly have the talent to have made it an exceptional one. Worse than that, their initial execution of “My Starbucks Idea” has been quite poor. That said, what I’m faulting Starbucks for is being lazy about the idea.

And you’re right, maybe it does work great for Starbucks. And maybe Starbucks is OK with not being exceptional. But what I ask myself is, if I were working for Starbucks, would I want to be the guy who suggested IdeaStorm, or would I want be the guy who took it a step further? I’ll tell you which one puts the company one step closer to excellence, and gets the subsequent promotion.

Thanks for taking the time to comment!