After LVMH and Saint Laurent, Starbucks is also launching a movie studio.
According to Christy Cain, VP of Brand and Partnerships Marketing, Starbucks Studios will “shine a light on the stories and people who inspire us, from young, emerging artists to innovators, changemakers and others who are making a positive impact on the world.”
The initiative is in partnership with Sugar23, Michael Sugar's production company. Sugar23 also spearheads The Way Upfronts, a quarterly event where brands and filmmakers can connect on sponsorship opportunities.
The media x commerce convergence continues, and it makes sense:
• For consumers, it's a much less annoying and more entertaining way to discover brands they're aligned with.
• For brands, it can often be less expensive than running a TV commercial, not to mention the earned media—at least until (and if) this, too, becomes commonplace marketing practice.
• For streaming platforms, it's a way to reduce the costs involved in original productions.
That said, I wonder at what scale a move like this starts to make sense. Even though brands are becoming more comfortable with harder-to-measure top-of-funnel initiatives, producing movies and TV shows still seems like a stretch.
One promising trend here is the slow but steady emergence of shoppable media—see, for example, Walmart's Add to Heart, Amazon's latest shoppable ads on Prime Video, or Pinterest's Deliciously Entertaining.
Shoppable media might be just what smaller brands need to get closer to the entertainment industry, as it will allow them to demonstrate some resemblance of ROI. But the technology's not there yet—not for the average brand, at least.
In other words—unless you're Starbucks (or Starbucks-adjacent), it's *probably* a little early to turn into a movie producer.
Tim, Paul, Vinny, I feel like y'all might have opinions on this. Would love to hear them!
#commerce #media #retail #marketing #advertising
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