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1st Edition, Issue-1 Voice Search – The New Driver of Retail Landscape?

Author: Amrita Sahay

Voice Search – The New Driver of Retail Landscape?

Abstract: In the ever changing digital era, rapid innovation in technology created voice search
which was a convenient way of searching one’s queries without typing text. The voice
recognition technology comprehended the user’s query and gave apt results within few minutes.
Over the years, voice recognition technology evolved with better features and accuracy. As of
2018, the voice recognition technology had showed its prominence by being all pervasive, be it
in business or in households. Home Automation systems armed with voice search technology
were helping customers by answering their queries, assisting them in shopping and amusing
them after a long day at work by playing their favourite music. But apart from the positive side,
there were a few challenges which posed hindrances in using voice search. Experts said that
many companies were not geared up to embrace the voice search technology appropriately. But
amidst the pitfalls, voice search was considered an important avenue for the retail segment in
the years to come. Would brands find new ways to leap forward and address the evolving
consumer needs? Would Conversational commerce driven by Artificial Intelligence become the
next retail frontier?

Case Study

“While voice search is certainly the future of how we will do most searches, there’s not really too
much you can do to optimize for it that is different than regular SEO optimization, Because
Google’s goal will always be to return the best result based on the person, location, and history,
it’s hard to guess exactly what the right answer for a query will be.”1

– Jenny Halasz, Speaker and Consultant on SEO

Voice search technology inferred speaking into smart devices instead of typing keywords in a
system for a particular search. The audio technology utilised speech recognition to understand
the needs of the users with perfection. Thereafter, the results were also transmitted orally.2 Voice
search had evolved well over the years premiering with Apple’s Siri in 2011. As of 2018, the voice
recognition technology had showed its prominence by being all pervasive, be it in business or in
households. Home Automation systems armed with voice search technology were helping
customers either by answering their queries, assisting them in shopping or by simply amusing
them after a long day at work by playing their favourite music. With the surge in voice technology,
the implications for the retail market were expected to be huge in the coming years.3

1 Yatsyna Inna, “Voice search optimization guide: Six steps for 2019”,
https://searchenginewatch.com/2019/01/11/voice-search-optimization-guide-2019/, January 11th 2019
2 Shaoolian Gabriel, “Why Voice Search Will Dominate SEO In 2019 -- And How You Can Capitalize On It”,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gabrielshaoolian/2018/12/27/why-voice-search-will-dominate-seo-in-2019-and-
how-you-can-capitalize-on-it/#20e786ff30ac, December 27th 2018
3 Maclaggan Wesley, “Voice search and the future of retail advertising”,
https://www.retailcustomerexperience.com/blogs/voice-search-and-the-future-of-retail-advertising/, May 11th 2018
“© 2019, Amity Research Centers HQ, Bangalore. All rights reserved.”

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1st Edition, Issue-1 Voice Search – The New Driver of Retail Landscape?

However, many experts also pointed out the inherent challenges of voice recognition
technology. They further said that there were many instances wherein the queries asked by the
customers were ambiguous in nature.4 Although voice search was gaining momentum in the
digital age, many companies were not geared to embrace the technology so well. Besides, there
were a few errors in the directory content and it was tough for people to ‘reach business sites
through voice searches’.5

However, with the rapid changes in the digital landscape, many analysts opined that there had
been an unprecedented hike in the adoption of smart assistants across the world. Moreover,
the widespread usage of voice assistants in business was a clear signal that voice recognition
technology would help the smaller firms and independent entrepreneurs in the years to come.6

Voice Search – The Evolving Trend

Brief History of Voice Search

Digital experts shared that the initial efforts undertaken in speech recognition stressed on
phonetics and the sound of vowels. They also mentioned that dictation machines which were
incepted by Thomas Edison in the 19th century were able to record speech and soon they
became popular among secretaries and doctors for taking down notes. Over the years,
researches were going on in voice search technology and efforts were being taken in fields like
recording and speech creation. Meanwhile, a machine made by Bell labs named Audrey had
features which enabled it to comprehend the digits between 0-9 with an accuracy of 90%.
However the machines which were created on sound technology were not capable enough to
produce accurate results. Many of these machines used template matching, where sound waves
were converted into numbers. These machines had few flaws like, one should speak slowly and
the environment should also be devoid of any sort of noise in order to garner accurate results.
In the mid-1980s, IBM introduced IBM Tangora which could identify about 20,000 English words
as well as full sentences. But after a long wait, it was in 1997 that the world’s first ‘continuous
speech recognizer’ was created which was known as Dragon’s naturally speaking software which
could comprehend about 100 words per minute. After years of research and technological
breakthroughs, there had been a tremendous improvement in the voice recognition
technologies.(Annexure I). Digital assistants like Cortana and Siri had emerged to solve the
queries of the customers via voice recognition techniques.7

Voice Search in the Contemporary Era

Voice search technology implied speaking into smart devices instead of typing keywords for a
particular search. The audio technology utilised speech recognition to comprehend about what
the users were saying with perfection. Thereafter, it conveyed the reply for the query orally to
the person using the same technology. Voice dialling and speech-to-text were examples of voice
search. Voice search was known to enhance customer experience in a swift way.8

4 Sentance Rebecca, “The future of voice search: 2020 and beyond”, https://econsultancy.com/the-future-of-voice-
search-2020-and-beyond/, July 26th2018
5 Matthews Kayla, “6 Challenges Preventing Voice Search Analytics”,
https://www.martechadvisor.com/articles/seo/6-challenges-preventing-voice-search-analytics/, April 30th 2019
6 Manning Q, “How Entrepreneurs Can Adapt Today's 'Smart Assistants' to Build Tomorrow's Office”,
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/308812, February 12th 2018
7 Boyd Clark, “The Past, Present, and Future of Speech Recognition Technology”, https://medium.com/swlh/the-
past-present-and-future-of-speech-recognition-technology-cf13c179aaf, January 10th2018
8 “Why Voice Search Will Dominate SEO In 2019 -- And How You Can Capitalize On It”, op.cit.

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1st Edition, Issue-1 Voice Search – The New Driver of Retail Landscape?

As an innovative technology, voice search had evolved well over the years premiering with
Apple’s Siri in 2011. As of 2018, the voice recognition technology had showed its prominence by
being all pervasive, be it in business or in households. Home Automation systems armed with
voice search technology were helping customers by answering their queries, assisting them in
shopping or by simply amusing them after a long day at work by playing their favourite music.
With the surge in voice search, the implications for the retail market were expected to be
enormous in the coming years.

Avid researchers agreed that Search engine optimization (SEO) was done initially for
conventional searches wherein users typed their search related queries. But, the
commencement of voice search had led to the formation of a new domain known as ‘answer
engine optimization’. Both the fields shared some similarities with one another although there
was difference in their functionalities. Moreover, voice search implied that customers wanted a
quick response, therefore it was important for the portal to optimise website microdata for
ascertaining that the information shelled out was genuine. In a broader context, voice search
had the power to bring about a change in the retail scenario. Strategically speaking, voice search
marketing was the key to create brand loyalty and awareness among the customers. The
innovative technology would also influence the purchasing decisions of the customers as more
and more customers were resorting to voice search.

According to a detailed survey on voice search conducted by Capgemini9 in May 2018, it was
found that about 51% of the users were using voice assistants and about 35% of them utilised
them for their routine shopping. In fact, many retailers were keen to take advantage of this
technology and many companies had tied up with the voice search device manufacturers to
increase customer awareness. Big brands like Walmart and Starbucks had apps in-built in voice
assistants like Alexa to serve the customers.10 The utilisation of digital assistants and chatbots
was anticipated to become a common trend in 2019 and terminologies like ‘answer engine
optimization’ were becoming an integral part of business jargons in the digital age. Moreover,
renowned American venture capitalist and former Wall Street securities analyst Mary Meeker
carried out a study on the internet trends in 2016 and deciphered that there was a 35-fold
increase in voice searches between the period 2008 and 2016. Additionally, as of January 2018,
nearly 1 billion voice searches were carried out every month as per Alpine AI11. In due course,
experts also mentioned that the voice search technology was also being deployed by renowned
companies like Google and Microsoft in their software applications.

Voice search was a segment which was still unexplored by companies who could utilise it for
customer engagement in the best possible way and could gain an added advantage in their
business transactions.12 Additionally, a report by international research agency Gartner
conducted in August 2018 mentioned that companies would resort to voice and visual search by
restructuring their websites that would amplify their revenue by as much as 30%.13 (Exhibit I).
Voice search was being viewed by analysts as a contemporary technology which was useful to

9 Is a French multinational corporation that provides consulting, technology, professional, and outsourcing services.
10 “Voice search and the future of retail advertising”, op.cit.
11 The company helps brands and retailers to create sales-driven voice apps for Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s
Cortana, and Google Assistant.
12 Shearman Lain, “Why 2019 Could Be the Game-Changing Year for Voice Search”, https://aithority.com/guest-
authors/why-2019-could-be-the-game-changing-year-for-voice-search/, February 8th 2019
13 Yu Jim, “How Visual and Voice Search Are Revitalizing The Role of SEO”, https://searchengineland.com/how-
visual-and-voice-search-are-revitalizing-the-role-of-seo-303958, August 20th 2018

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1st Edition, Issue-1 Voice Search – The New Driver of Retail Landscape?

one and all. Many renowned marketing analysts opined that there were an array of brands
which were optimising their sites for voice search14

Exhibit I
Numerous Benefits of Voice Search Technology

Source: Dame Nate, “Voice search and SEO: Why B2B marketers need to pay attention now”,
https://searchengineland.com/voice-search-and-seo-why-b2b-marketers-need-to-pay-attention-now-

277459, June 28th2017

As per a report conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers in January 2019, about 71% of the
respondents preferred using voice assistants in order to search for a particular query rather than
manually typing their questions. The voice search feature that first appeared on Google was in
English. Later on, the voice search service backed by Google search was available in more than
60 languages. Eventually, in 2013, Google came up with the Hummingbird SEO15 which
emphasised on the natural language processing. The Hummingbird SEO gave a boost to the
voice search optimisation which could be beneficial for business firms.16

People were devising new ways of search and a number of devices were being used right from
smartphones, smart watches to conventional desktops. Moreover, as per a study conducted in
February 2019 at BrandContent17, more than a fifth of UK adults used voice search at regular
intervals in a day’s schedule. Besides, the firm also emphasised that about 22% of the voice
search users were using it to find information about local business. Thus voice search technology
was helping small firms to append their customer base (Exhibit II). They added that the local
firms had opportunities to soar ahead as there were maximum searches related to keywords like
‘near me’. They also said that these small firms had the chance to prove their mettle by utilising
comparison sites and directories to increase customer engagement.18

14 Dame Nate, “Voice search and SEO: Why B2B marketers need to pay attention now”,
https://searchengineland.com/voice-search-and-seo-why-b2b-marketers-need-to-pay-attention-now-277459, June
28th 2017
15 Is the codename given to a significant algorithm change in Google Search in 2013.
16 “Voice search optimization guide: Six steps for 2019”, op.cit.
17 Is an award winning creative content marketing agency.
18 Congreve Siobahn, “How the increasing popularity of voice search is helping redefine SEO in 2019”,
https://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/2019/feb/26/how-increasing-popularity-voice-search-helping-
redefine-seo-2019/, February 26th 2019

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1st Edition, Issue-1 Voice Search – The New Driver of Retail Landscape?

Exhibit II
Strategies for Small Firms to Benefit from Voice Search

Long-tail keywords
Short-tail keywords have already diminished in importance and conversational search is bound
to decrease their prominence even further. People don’t use voice search the same way they
ordinarily type into a search engine. They ask more direct queries, to get more relevant answers.
This is where long-tail keywords in your content come in handy. Using these keywords helps
increase the chances of your content ranking in voice search engine result pages.

Focus content on answering faqs
Your content should prioritise answering questions like ‘why’, ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘how’. Your
FAQs should be conversational in nature to answer these questions directly.

Consider the questions people are more likely to ask
Now that you already understand your target audience consider what type of questions they’ll
mostly be asking when looking for your products and services. The focus should be on providing
a direct and concise answer for better ranking. Your focus shouldn’t just be on the keyword, but
how the question will be phrased including extra words that will be used in order to get a
concise answer. Build your content around these queries.

Develop content with an informal tone
Unlike text search, voice search is not just direct – but often colloquial. Consider how people
generally speak, to develop content to match their tone.

Try out voice search
The best way to understand how voice search will impact your website (and business) is by
actually trying it out. Play around with voice search to find out how your competition is ranking.
You’ll also have a chance to learn more about long-tail keywords, and how they boost your
ranking. There are so many ways you can capitalise on voice search to increase traffic to your
website or even a brick and mortar store. If you’re a restaurant owner in New York, provide
directions to your location and you’ll be surprised to find more people coming through the door.
Whatever you do, make sure your SEO strategy incorporates voice search, in-so-doing boosting
ranking on SERPs.

Source: Iwasiuk Derek, “The Importance of Voice Search in Search Engine Optimization”,
https://www.deepcrawl.com/blog/news/importance-voice-search-search-engine-optimization/, 2019

The advent of digital era witnessed a paramount surge in virtual assistants like Alexa, Google
Home and Siri, who assisted people with the help of voice search technology. Sharing his
thoughts on the surge of voice search, David Ciccarelli CEO of Voices.com said, “With daily
screen time reaching an average of 6 hours per person per day, it’s evident that advertisers have
saturated the eye and are now moving on to the ears. Mass adoption of virtual assistants like
Siri, Alexa, and Google Home is ushering in the era of the voice, one that has us speaking and
directly engaging with our computers. Almost every possible industry is affected by ‘voice,’ and
this phenomenon is expected to continue into 2019 as we enter an audio-rich world.”19

19 Carufel Richard, “Voice over trend predictions for 2019—and the impact on marketing”,
https://www.agilitypr.com/pr-news/public-relations/voice-over-trend-predictions-for-2019-and-the-impact-on-
marketing/, December 11th 2018

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1st Edition, Issue-1 Voice Search – The New Driver of Retail Landscape?

Competition in the Voice Search Industry

There were a number of companies who were being popular in the voice search industry. Two
iconic players like Google and Amazon were pitted against one another in the voice search
market. Both Amazon and Google were investing hordes of money in order to sustain in the
voice search market. Google was the undisputable king of traditional search and the destination
for tons of queries and information. In the recent times, Amazon was also known for creating a
niche for itself in the smart speakers segment. Amazon’s products like Amazon Echo, Amazon
Echo Dot along with Google Home, SonosOne and Apple HomePod were adjudged as the most
popular products in the voice search segment in January 2019.20

Additionally, as per predictions from global technology market analyst firm Canalys, smart
speaker market would grow 82.4% from 114.0 million units in 2018 to 207.9 million units in
2019. The firm also affirmed that U.S. would command the global speaker market by garnering
about 42.2% of the total global speaker market by the end of 2019. Canalys analysts also added
that the East-Asian markets mainly China was earmarked to be a rising market for the smart
speaker industry due to high concentration of professionals and the rising middle-class
households with willingness to embrace new technologies. Jason Low, a Senior Researcher at
Canalys stated, “The growing installed base of smart speakers is an opportunity to create new
business models and to drive profit beyond music and audio content streaming services.”21

Can Voice Search Transform the Retail Landscape?

Nearly 50% of the American population deployed voice assistants on multiple devices like
speakers and smartphones. Further, the voice assistants had emerged as a boon for physically
challenged individuals who could control the house appliances and lights in their offices as well
as homes through voice commands. Smart devices could also help the customers in
administering the correct doses of medicines. Moreover, in a survey conducted by Pew Research
Centre in June 2018 revealed that about 55% of the respondents stated that they used their
phones in hands free mode was their key motivation for using voice search. 22

Voice search technology had gradually become the latest trend of business ventures wherein
voice recognition technology was deployed by companies in order to amplify their customer
base as well as bolster their sales. 23 It was estimated that conversational commerce in the US
had reached about $1.8 billion in 2017 which was further expected to touch $40 billion by 2022.
(Exhibit III).24 Business leaders and scholars across the globe were optimistic that voice search
coupled with Artificial Intelligence would lend a big support to businesses in the long run in the
field of audio marketing too. With the surge in digital assistants, voice search had the full
potential of transforming the retail landscape.25

20 Cuofano Gennaro, “Who’s Winning The Voice Search War? Smart Speakers Market Share In 2019”,
https://fourweekmba.com/smart-speaker-market-share/,
21 Alto Palo, “Canalys: Global smart speaker installed base to top 200 million by end of 2019”,
https://www.canalys.com/static/press_release/2019/Canalys-pr20190415Global-smart-speaker-installed-base-to-
top-200-million-by-end-of-2019.pdf, April 15th 2019
22 Koeppel Peter, “Smart Home, Smart Move? The Pros And Cons Of Voice Assistants”,
https://www.koeppeldirect.com/drtvblog/smart-home-smart-move-the-pros-and-cons-of-voice-assistants/, June
7th 2018
23 Nayar Vipin, “Voice Search Trends: How Seo And Marketing Will Change”, https://acodez.in/voice-search-
trends/, January 15th 2019
24 Yu Jim, “How Visual and Voice Search Are Revitalizing The Role of SEO”, https://searchengineland.com/how-
visual-and-voice-search-are-revitalizing-the-role-of-seo-303958, August 20th2018
25 “Marketers Need to Know This About the Future of Voice & Audio in 2019”, op.cit.

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1st Edition, Issue-1 Voice Search – The New Driver of Retail Landscape?

Exhibit III
Voice Commerce Sales in the US and UK

Source : Yu Jim, “How Visual and Voice Search Are Revitalizing The Role of SEO”,
https://searchengineland.com/how-visual-and-voice-search-are-revitalizing-the-role-of-seo-303958,

August 20th 2018

Veteran experts like Tom Livne CEO of Verbit (An AI-driven transcription and captioning service)
also sounded optimistic about the future of Voice technology and remarked, “With more people
integrating digital assistants into their everyday lives, marketers can now leverage the
technology in voice app development in order to raise brand awareness and create new,
personalized experiences. (Exhibit IV).

Exhibit IV
Expectations of Voice Search Customer from Brands

Source: Yu Jim, “How Visual and Voice Search Are Revitalizing The Role of SEO”,
https://searchengineland.com/how-visual-and-voice-search-are-revitalizing-the-role-of-seo-303958,

August 20th2018

One brand that quickly seized the opportunity for voice is Domino’s. In the U.S., Domino’s has
introduced a one-click ‘Easy Orders’ option, which they made available through Alexa. … 20% of
customers with Easy Orders had used Alexa for this service just two months after launching. This
clearly demonstrates how the adoption of voice technology is being driven by convenience, and
consumers are eager to jump on the trend.”26 (Exhibit V).27

26 Pereira Merilyn, “Marketers Need to Know This About the Future of Voice & Audio in 2019”,
https://www.martechadvisor.com/articles/content-marketing/marketers-need-to-know-this-about-the-future-of-
voice-audio-in-2019/, March 27th 2019
27 “DOMINO'S ALEXA SKILL”, https://wearesocial.com/uk/case-studies/dominos-alexa-skill, 2019

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1st Edition, Issue-1 Voice Search – The New Driver of Retail Landscape?

Exhibit V
Domino’s adopting Voice Search for Business

Source : “Domino's Alexa Skill”,
https://wearesocial.com/uk/case-studies/dominos-alexa-skill, 2019

The prospects as well as potential of the voice search technology were expected to be immense
and was expected to be adopted by numerous segments of the industry in 2019. Commenting
on the surge of voice search, Alessandra Alari, Head of search at Google UK noted, “People are
searching while on the go and expect to find the information they’re looking for, right then and
there… For businesses to get the most out of voice search they need to strive to be as assistive
as possible. This means considering not only what questions consumers will be asking, but also
how, when and where they are asking them.”28

Moreover, digital experts across the globe unanimously agreed that voice search technology was
on the rise with many big technical companies investing huge amount of financial resources in
developing the technology. In Amazon’s Q3 report Jeff Bezos revealed that till January 2018, a
huge number of customers had bought Alexa which proved that voice search technology was
expanding substantially. Not just Amazon but many other ace companies like Google and
Walmart were also focussing on voice- based shopping in order to bolster sales. Analysts across
the globe felt that the voice search technology was going to help retailers in a magnanimous
way in the future years.29

Challenges of Conversational Search

Pointing towards the challenges of voice search, some experts said that, although voice search
was gaining momentum in the digital age, many companies were not geared well to embrace
the technology. In a survey conducted among 75,000 companies by Uberall, only 4% satisfied
the criteria for voice search readiness. Besides, the prevalence of errors in the directory content
posed challenges for people to ‘reach business sites through voice searches’. Apart from this,
only a meager 2% of the entire marketing budget of a company was allocated to voice search
strategies.30

28 Waugh Rob, “Prepare for a year when voice searches come of age”,
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/ready-and-enabled/voice-search/, January 7th 2019
29 Bentahar Amine, “The Continued Rise Of Voice Search And How Your Business Can Leverage It”,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2018/01/29/the-continued-rise-of-voice-search-and-how-
your-business-can-leverage-it/#6ed92b6a301c,January 29th2018
30 “6 Challenges Preventing Voice Search Analytics”, op.cit.

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The Road Ahead for Voice Search

The widespread usage of voice assistants in business was a clear indication that voice
recognition technology was there to help the smaller firms and independent entrepreneurs.31
“As each year passes, voice search and devices that utilise digital assistants continue to rise. In
addition to the obvious relevance for these tech giants, this change in consumer behavior has
far-reaching business impacts, from retailers to SEO companies to e-commerce websites. In the
marketing world, this means that old SEO methods will lose effectiveness, forcing companies to
tailor their web presence to the rise of voice technology… With each quarter bringing continued
growth, optimizing for voice search is no longer optional, but it is a must for all business,” stated
Amine Bentahar, Chief Operating & Digital Officer and Partner at Advantix Digital.32

Meanwhile, Jim Cridlin (Cridlin), Mindshare’s Global Head of Innovation and Partnership
staunchly believed that voice searches as well as visual search were going to shape the digital
landscape. He added that the world was gradually moving into an era beyond screens and
keyboards and where the visual and audio control was guided by the assistants powered by AI.
He further remarked, “The world is on the cusp of a new era of how to interact with the world
around us. It is going to be a world with a lot fewer screens and keyboards, but will be more
invisible and participatory.”33

Annexure I
The Evolution of Voice Search

Source : Boyd Clark, “Voice Search: The Evolution of Speech Recognition Technology”,
https://medium.com/swlh/voice-search-the-evolution-of-speech-recognition-technology-

f3a773f50d11, February 20th2019

31 “How Entrepreneurs Can Adapt Today's 'Smart Assistants' to Build Tomorrow's Office”, op.cit.
32 “How Visual and Voice Search Are Revitalizing The Role of SEO”, op.cit.
33 Oakes Omar, “Mindshare launches voice and visual consultancy”,
https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/mindshare-launches-voice-visual-consultancy/1495394, October 8th2018

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1st Edition, Issue-1 Starbucks’ ‘Dark Social’ Strategy to Drive Growth

Starbucks’ ‘Dark Social’ Strategy to Drive
Growth

Case Study

This case was written by Nilosha Sharma and reviewed by Dr. A. Saravanan Naidu, Amity
Research Centers Headquarter, Bangalore. It is intended to be used as the basis for class
discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management
situation. The case was compiled from published sources.
© 2019, Amity Research Centers Headquarter, Bangalore.
Website: www.amity.edu/casestudies/
No part of this publication may be copied, stored, transmitted, reproduced or distributed in
any form or medium whatsoever without the permission of the copyright owner.

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1st Edition, Issue-1 Starbucks’ ‘Dark Social’ Strategy to Drive Growth

Author: Nilosha Sharma

Starbucks’ ‘Dark Social’ Strategy to Drive Growth

Abstract: Starbucks opened its first store in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region and
the UK in 1998. The company had more than 25,000 stores worldwide and was the premier
roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. Over the years, Starbucks in EMEA region
had tried to build its retail business, made efforts in channel development and create deep
connection with existing customers and engage with new ones. In 2018, Starbucks announced
to restructure its operations in Europe and decided to fully license its operations in the
Netherlands, France, Luxemburg and Belgium with its strategic partner Alsea. Further,
Starbucks was on various social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to grab
the eyeballs of customers online. Besides, the company explored a new marketing strategy
referred to as ‘Dark Social’ on the social media. By using dark social, Starbucks tried to bring
the marketing and product development closer. The company also tried to explore how it
could use private groups and accounts on social media to engage with customers in a healthier
way. But the challenge for Starbucks in EMEA region was the widespread market reach of over
45 markets each of which were at different stages of maturity and with different local needs.
Amidst this scenario, it remained to be seen whether Starbucks’ dark social strategy would
succeed in enhancing the customer experience in the coming years.

Case Study

“What I’m most excited about [on social media] is some of the possibilities around private
groups and private accounts on social media channels. When we think about the crossover
between product and marketing, it really allows us to have a much deeper conversation with
certain customers who really do care about our brand, who can then get much more involved
in things like product development and testing, and we can use the audience in a much more
meaningful way.”1

– Reuben Arnold, Vice President of Marketing and Product, EMEA Starbucks

The journey of Starbucks in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region started when
the company opened its first store in EMEA and the United Kingdom (UK) in 1998.
Starbucks had its presence in around 29 countries in the region, which included, Bahrain,
Bulgaria, Cyprus, Austria, Belgium, the UK, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Switzerland,
Republic of Ireland, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland,
Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia,
Saudi Arabia and Spain.2 In 2018, Starbucks started to scale back its direct involvement in four

1 Arica Asena, “Starbucks Brings Dark Social Into Play For Better Market Position”,
https://digitalagencynetwork.com/starbucks-brings-dark-social-into-play-for-better-market-position/, March
22nd 2019
2 “Europe Middle East Africa”, https://mena.starbucks.com/MENA/en/newsroomarticle/sections/about-
starbucks/starbucks-coffee-international/europe-middle-east-africa.html
“© 2019, Amity Research Centers HQ, Bangalore. All rights reserved.”

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1st Edition, Issue-1 Starbucks’ ‘Dark Social’ Strategy to Drive Growth

European countries namely, France, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg.3 As part of this, the
company decided to fully license Starbucks operations in these markets.4

Besides this, Starbucks was planning to restructure its back-office support functions in the
EMEA region. The company had decided to lay off around 190 workers and also close down its
support center in Amsterdam.5 The company also started testing a new marketing strategy
named as ‘Dark Social’ wherein it used more private types of social media like private groups
and messenger services.6 By using dark social, Starbucks tried to bring the marketing and
product development closer. The company also tried to explore how it could use private
groups and accounts on social media to better engage with customers. But the major challenge
for Starbucks in EMEA region was its widespread reach in over 45 markets. Moreover, each
EMEA region was at different stages of maturity and also had different local needs.7 In this
backdrop, it remained to be seen whether the dark social strategy would help Starbucks in
bringing its marketing and product development closer to better engage with customers.

Starbucks in EMEA Region – An Overview

Gutierrez (Gutierrez) was appointed for the newly created role of Senior Vice In 1998,
Starbucks opened its first store in the EMEA region and the UK. The company’s operations in
EMEA region was supported by a roasting plant in Amsterdam and the EMEA Regional Support
Center. The roasting plant in the Amsterdam packaged, distributed and roasted all the coffee
for Starbucks in the EMEA region and was the only roasting plant which was situated outside of
the United States (US).8 Starbucks had more than 25,000 stores worldwide and was the
premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world.9 In 2006, Cliff Burrows (Burrows),
the then Senior Vice President and President of Starbucks Coffee Company (UK) Ltd. was
offered an extended role of Senior Vice President and President of EMEA, Starbucks Coffee
International (SCI). Burrows were given the responsibility to improve the development,
operations of Starbucks in the EMEA region which included Ireland and the UK and was placed
at Starbucks Regional Support Center in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In addition to this, Julio
President, New Markets, SCI.

Martin Coles, the then President, SCI stated, “As Starbucks continues to accelerate its
international expansion, we must perpetually build stronger infrastructures that will allow us
to meet the Company's strategic growth objectives. Cliff's and Julio's past successes, extensive
experience, knowledge of the business and Starbucks culture, as well as Phil's credentials in
the restaurant and retail industries, are strong indicators that these leaders will provide the

3 Amato-Mccoy M. Deena, “Starbucks shaking things up in Europe”, https://www.chainstoreage.com/finance-
0/starbucks-makes-big-moves-overseas/, October 18th 2018
4 “Starbucks Evolves Structure in EMEA to Accelerate Long-Term Strategic Growth”,
https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2018/starbucks-evolves-structure-in-emea-to-accelerate-strategic-growth/,
October 18th 2018
5 “Starbucks shaking things up in Europe”, op.cit.
6 Leworthy Theo, “What’s next for Starbucks? Dark social”, http://dominion-funds.com/en/rss/item/what-s-next-
for-starbucks-dark-social, March 15th 2019
7 Vizard Sarah, “Starbucks explores dark social for market research”,
https://www.marketingweek.com/2019/03/14/starbucks-social-market-research/, March 14th 2019
8 “Europe Middle East Africa”, op.cit.
9 “Starbucks Celebrates Global Milestone with 30,000th Store”,
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190318005247/en/Starbucks-Celebrates-Global-Milestone-
30000th-Store, May 18th 2019

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foundation we need in the region to reach our long-term goal while continuing to deliver our
legendary service and the Starbucks Experience to our customers.”10

Besides this, the company made various contributions in Africa and at the same time
developed community programs. This helped the company to create strong relationships
between neighbours and Starbucks partners in the communities. As part of this, in 2007,
Starbucks committed itself to CARE International and donated around $500,000 for a three
year period till 2010. The company also supported ‘social development projects’, ‘providing
education’ and also ‘developing skills for both adults and children’. The Starbucks Coffee EMEA
was also committed to support small-scale projects in local communities for the said period.11
In addition to this, it came up with various worldwide initiatives through Starbucks Shared
Planet12 global commitment as part of its pledge to operate responsibly. In 2009, Starbucks
and the Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO)13 together declared to offer
products like mocha, latte, cappuccino and other espresso-based beverage served at Starbucks
in Europe would be Starbucks Shared Planet and Fairtrade Certified.

Rob Cameron of FLO stated, “Starbucks and Fairtrade share a long history of supporting small-
scale coffee farmers and their communities. This landmark commitment from Starbucks to
serving only Fairtrade Certified espresso across Europe by March 2010 is another step in
helping consumers across Europe live Fairtrade every day.” Buck Hendrix, the then President of
Starbucks Europe, Middle East and Africa, stated, “I am excited about and proud of next year’s
introduction of 100% Starbucks™ Shared Planet™ and Fairtrade Certified espresso in our stores
across Europe. Starbucks currently serves millions of customers in Europe every week. This
announcement guarantees that, working together with Fairtrade and our customers, we are
using our size for good every day. Starbucks has always been committed to responsibly grown
and ethically traded coffee and our nearly decade long relationship with Fairtrade has
strengthened that commitment.”14

Furthermore, by 2011, Starbucks Coffee Company decided to introduce a new corporate
structure to drive its growth strategy globally under the leadership of Howard Schultz (Schultz),
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Starbucks Coffee Company. Schultz stated,
“Our company performance over the past two years has positioned Starbucks for the
significant international opportunities ahead and the acceleration of our global growth
strategy. Today we are successfully executing our multi-brand, multi-channel strategy and we
believe the leadership and organizational moves announced today will optimize our speed and
focus going forward.” The retail business of Starbucks was organised as Starbucks U.S. and SCI,

10 “Starbucks Strengthens its International Leadership Team with New and Expanded Roles”,
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20060308005820/en/Starbucks-Strengthens-International-
Leadership-Team-New-Expanded, March 8th 2006
11 “Europe Middle East Africa”, op.cit.
12 Starbucks Shared Planet is Starbucks commitment to doing business in ways that are good to the earth and to
each other. From the way the company buys its coffee, to minimising its environmental footprint, and being
involved in local communities. Starbucks ethical coffee sourcing principles for Starbucks Shared Planet coffees
include specific criteria that address the environmental, social and economic transparency issues that are critical
to the financial stability and long-term health of coffee farms and farmers. Launched in 2004, Starbucks ethical
sourcing principles were developed in collaboration with Conservation International.
13 FLO is a non-profit, multi-stakeholder association that encompasses a global network of Fairtrade organisations
that are actively involved in supporting and empowering producers, raising consumer awareness and
campaigning for changes in the rules of conventional trade.
14 “100% of Starbucks Espresso in Europe to be Starbucks Shared Planet and Fairtrade Certified”,
https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2009/100-of-starbucks-espresso-in-europe-to-be-starbucks-shared-planet-
and-fairt/, September 10th 2009

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which included 54 markets outside of the US. As part of its new strategy, the company was
divided into three region organisational structure.15 (Exhibit I).

Exhibit I

Three-Region Organisational Structure

Sr.No. Regions

1 China and Asia Pacific: All Asia Pacific markets and China

2 Americas: United States, Canada, Mexico and Latin America

3 EMEA: Europe, U.K., Middle East, Russia and Africa

Source: Compiled by the Author from – “Starbucks Announces New Leadership Structure to

Accelerate Global Growth”,
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/829224/000119312511185943/dex991.htm, July 11th 2011

As part of this new organisational structure, a President was assigned to look after the

operations of Starbucks in each region. Along with this, the President had to build Starbucks

brands and channels in each region (Exhibit II). In 2011, Michelle Gass (Gass) was appointed as
the new President of Starbucks EMEA.16

Exhibit II

Roles and Responsibility of President in the New Organisational Structure

# Regions President

John Culver has been named president, Starbucks China and Asia Pacific. Culver’s

focus and accountability will center on Starbucks retail business in Asia Pacific,

China and including China, Japan and Starbucks newest market entry – India. China, Japan and

1 Asia India are important areas of growth for the company and Culver brings the extensive
Pacific global experience navigating complex operating environments to drive even greater

Region business results in this region. As president of SCI over the past two years, Culver

and his team have delivered strong international growth and set the foundation for

the company’s international business and growth opportunities ahead.

Cliff Burrows will expand his current role as president, Starbucks U.S. to president,

Americas, with responsibility for the United States, Canada, Mexico and Latin

2 Americas America. Under Burrows’ leadership, the U.S. business continues to set records
Region across almost every measure of sales and customer experience – achieving
performance levels that are especially noteworthy for a business in its 40th year. The

Americas Region, particularly the United States, Canada and Brazil, will continue to

be a cornerstone of Starbucks growth.

Michelle Gass has been named president, Starbucks EMEA. In this role, Gass will

provide overall leadership to Starbucks company-operated markets in this region:

the U.K., France, and Germany. She will also be responsible for growing and

3 EMEA developing Starbucks joint venture and licensed operations in Europe, Russia and
Region the Middle East. During her nearly 15 years with Starbucks, Gass has served in a
variety of leadership roles, including global strategy, marketing and category

management. Currently, she serves as president, Seattle’s Best Coffee, a Starbucks

subsidiary, where she has led significant growth – from 3,000 to 50,000 points of

distribution – through new and innovative business and brand strategies.

Source: Compiled by the Author from – “Starbucks Announces New Leadership Structure to

Accelerate Global Growth”,
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/829224/000119312511185943/dex991.htm, July 11th 2011

15 “Starbucks Announces New Leadership Structure to Accelerate Global Growth”,
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/829224/000119312511185943/dex991.htm, July 11th 2011
16 “Starbucks Announces New Leadership Structure to Accelerate Global Growth”, op.cit.

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In due course, Starbucks witnessed a strong turnaround in its US business which it tried to
replicate in the European market. Starbucks in EMEA looked to achieve operating margin of 15%
as compared to 6.5% in the last quarter of 2011. Upon joining as President of EMEA region, Gass
worked towards reviving its business in the EMEA region. Gass stated, “Our business in Europe
today is quite reminiscent of what we went through in the U.S. back in 2008 — a tough
economy, record unemployment, fierce competition and our own self-induced mistakes.”
Upon joining Gass had heard from various people starting from cabbies to her dentist about
Starbucks ‘weak coffee’ and ‘too-milky lattes’. Gass stated, “Europe is espresso territory. To
compete, we must absolutely deliver the best latte on the High Street.” To maintain quality
and also reduce unnecessary costs, Starbucks tried to reeducate its European employees about
the ways of making the coffee.

The company also tried to make market-by-market adjustments which would help Starbucks to
boost and improve results. Gass stated, “selling more lattes will more than offset the cost of
adding the extra espresso shot.” In addition to this, Starbucks added second espresso roast in
France and came up with localised options which included foie gras sandwiches. Gass added,
“At Starbucks, when we take care of our own issues, the external environment doesn’t matter.
We’ve broken the cycle in the U.S. and I’m convinced we’ll break the cycle as well” in Europe.
Starbucks also introduced Starbucks Rewards program in Germany in 2012. Apart from this,
Starbucks cut down the price of small lattes in Germany and had reduced the price of small
cappuccinos in Greece by €1 to €2.5. In addition to this, the company planned to come up with
drive-thrus in the Europe’s busy suburbs where the rent was less costly. On the ongoing
development, Matthew DiFrisco, Analyst at Lazard Capital Markets, stated, “The turnaround
strategy worked in the United States and it can work (in the EMEA region) as well.”17

Going further, Starbucks’ opened its first stores in sub-Saharan Africa through a licensed
partnership with Taste Holdings18. Starbucks planned to offer products according to South
African taste by adding items like locally brewed Rooibos tea.19 After making various efforts,
Gass left Starbucks in 2013. Jeffrey Bernstein, Analyst at Barclays, stated, “The news should be
viewed as disappointing to investors as Gass was highly regarded, having helped create the
overall strategic blueprint for the brand.”20 In the meantime, Starbucks tried to increase its
growth in EMEA region by opening concept stores. According to Rich Nelsen, Senior Vice
President, Starbucks, “Starbucks will open between five and 10 such stores in the region this
year.” The concept stores would test new products and sales ideas for Starbucks while the
interior and design would be planned as per the location of the stores in the particular
countries.21

In May 2014, Schultz claimed that “Starbucks’ latest quarterly release showed a 6 percent
bump in sales for comparable stores in the EMEA region, the strongest in 14 quarters.” He
further added, “powerful evidence of the success of our continuing efforts to transform that

17 Baertlein Lisa, “Starbucks focuses on Europe after U.S. turnaround”,
https://www.reuters.com/article/starbucks-europe/starbucks-focuses-on-europe-after-u-s-turnaround-
idUSL1E8ELY2020120327, March 27th 2012
18 Taste Holdings was founded by Endeavor Entrepreneur Carlo Gonzaga, to support the expansion of the coffee
chain in South Africa. Taste Holdings had grown to become a leading management group and licensor of food and
retail brands in the region, specialising in Quick Service Restaurants and luxury goods.
19 “The first Starbucks are coming to sub-Saharan Africa”, http://fortune.com/2015/07/14/starbucks-africa/, July
14th 2015
20 Baertlein Lisa, “Starbucks veteran Michelle Gass leaving for Kohl's”, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kohls-
gass/starbucks-veteran-michelle-gass-leaving-for-kohls-idUSBRE94L16A20130522, March 21st 2012
21 Hoekstra Tjibbe, “Starbucks tries local touch to lift growth in Europe”, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-
starbucks/starbucks-tries-local-touch-to-lift-growth-in-europe-idUSTRE8261IM20120307, March 7th 2012

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important region.” There were several factors which contributed to the increase in sales which
included, ‘favourable exchange rates for the euro and other foreign currencies’. According to
Troy Alstead (Alstead), the then COO of Starbucks, “A shift to higher-quality offerings, and an
improving economy in the U.K., also helped.” Along with this, Starbucks came up with the
strategy to focus on opening of licensed stores instead of owning the stores.

The company started with offering franchises in the UK in 2013 which proved to be successful.
The company tried to replicate that success in France by starting to offer franchising in 2014.
According to the experts, “It’s continuing to focus on licensing with new licensed stores in
France, Germany and Spain.” The company further stated that there was double digit growth
in the licensed stores in the Middle East. Along with this, the second-largest market for
Starbucks was Turkey with 210 licensed stores in the region. Alstead stated, “The strong
performance in these markets supports our licensed-focus growth strategy in the region.”22

In 2016, Starbucks appointed Kris Engskov (Kris) as the new global Executive Vice President and
Martin Brok (Brok) as the new Senior Vice President and President for EMEA. Brok stated, “It’s
a huge honor to be given the opportunity to lead our EMEA business. I’ve been privileged to
work for some of the best brands in the world throughout my career and I’m delighted to bring
my experience to Starbucks in this region.” He added, “We’ll focus on further elevating the
brand across retail, channel development and digital through innovation, creating new
occasions and deepening our connection with existing customers and engaging new ones.
Kris’s hard work over the last five years means we are a strong part of the global team and well
prepared for our next wave of growth. I look forward to building on this work and to working
side by side with some of the finest partners in the company.” Kevin Johnson, CEO Starbucks,
stated, “I want to congratulate Kris on his promotion and to wish Martin every possible success
in his new role. Kris has led the Europe, Middle East and Africa businesses into profitability
over the last five years.”23

Along with this, Starbucks realised the need for advertising agency and as part of that
appointed Iris to lead its creative account in the EMEA region. Maria Sebastian, Senior Vice
President, EMEA stated, “We are excited to begin our work with Iris. [It is] a best in class
creative agency who demonstrated during this process the opportunity we have to celebrate
our coffee leadership, community values, and tell our brand story, across such a fantastically
diverse region.”24

Would ‘Dark Social’ Strategy Drive Growth for Starbucks?

In 2018, Starbucks approved to fully license its operations in the Netherlands, France,
Luxemburg and Belgium to its strategic partner Alsea25. With this partnership, Alsea had the

right to operate and develop Starbucks stores in these markets and also build Starbucks’

regional growth. John Culver, Group President, Starbucks International, Channel Development

and Global Coffee & Tea, stated, “We’re very pleased to build on our 16-year history with

22 “Starbucks finally perks up in Europe”, https://www.seattletimes.com/business/starbucks-finally-perks-up-in-
europe/, May 3rd 2014
23 “Starbucks EMEA Announces Changes in Leadership”, https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2016/starbucks-
emea-announces-changes-in-leadership/, May 2nd 2016
24 Faull Jennifer, “Starbucks contested EMEA creative account heads to Iris”,
https://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/11/14/starbucks-contested-emea-creative-account-heads-iris,
November 14th 2017
25 The largest independent chain restaurant operator in Latin America.

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Alsea, a long-term strategic partner to Starbucks, with the intention to license our business
operations in France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg. These strategic moves would
enable us to further accelerate growth across these markets as we position Starbucks for long-
term success moving forward.”

In EMEA region, Starbucks tried to create long-term profitable growth and thus restructured its
back-office support functions. The aim of the company was to create a more impactful team
that supported licensees in optimising operations. Starbucks planned to come up with new
support centre structure in its head office in London and close down its support centre in
Amsterdam. In addition to this, the company planned to continue its roasting and packaging
site in Amsterdam. Brok stated, “This new structure will be the culmination of a long and
thoughtful process to simplify our organization so that it can best service our increasingly
licensed store market strategy while continuing to embed our mission and values in how we
operate everyday.”26

This move of Starbucks was part of its restructuring efforts as by partnering with Alsea the
company would focus on its key markets like the US and China. Haley Drage, Spokeswoman
Starbucks, stated, “By bringing together France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg
under Alsea, we would be unlocking untapped potential for growth to ensure the long-term
success of the region.”27 Starbucks also attempted to carve out a ‘personality for the brand’ on
the social media from its earlier successful attempt of turning ‘the coffee brand into a way of
life’. Starbucks was on various social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The company had around 36 million likes on Facebook followed with 11.7 million and 8.5
million likes on Twitter and Instagram respectively. The Starbucks team was highly active on
Twitter for customer service and responded very quickly to the queries. Apart from this,
Starbucks took the ideas of customers seriously and implemented them in its coffee chains.28
(Exhibit III).

Exhibit III
Twitter Handle of Starbucks

Source: Madigan Rachel, “How Starbucks is Killing it on Social Media”, https://medium.com/digital-
living/how-starbucks-is-killing-it-on-social-media-80fcd4398e4e, May 8th 2016

Besides social media platforms, Starbucks explored a new marketing strategy termed as ‘Dark
Social’ on the social media. Dark social means using ‘using more private types of social media,

26 “Starbucks Evolves Structure in EMEA to Accelerate Long-Term Strategic Growth”, op.cit.
27 Patton Leslie, “Starbucks Layoffs Reach Europe in Restructuring Effort”,
https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/starbucks-mid-makeover-hands-off-reins-in-four-europe-markets,
October 18th 2018
28 Madigan Rachel, “How Starbucks is Killing it on Social Media”, https://medium.com/digital-living/how-
starbucks-is-killing-it-on-social-media-80fcd4398e4e, May 8th 2016

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like private groups and messenger services, to facilitate deeper relationships with
consumers.’29 According to a report published by RadiumOne30 in 2014, 84% of on-site shares
globally come through dark social followed by 9% and 7% of Facebook ad other social networks
respectively. 84% of consumers’ outbound sharing from publishers’ and marketers’ websites’
was being carried on through dark social channels like instant messaging and email. In addition
to this, 62% of the clickbacks come from mobile devise on Dark Social shares. The rest 38%
shares came from desktops.31

According to RadiumOne, 46% of the consumers aged 55 or more shared only through dark
social platforms. According to the report, from the marketers’ point of view, open social
sharing was a good platform, as the traffic source could be determined and measured by the
companies. At the same time, in controlled social sharing, users set a ‘site’s private message
share button’, which was also good as per marketers, as they could track the user’s interest.
While in the case of dark social sharing, the marketers don’t know the source of the share,
through which website it was shared or what content was shared. This was very difficult to
track by the researchers (Annexure I).

The marketers even tried to find out this through basic correlation analysis. The marketers
tried to first find out the source of its digital traffic. Then they tried to ‘find out how much of
the traffic was from Dark Social’. Once the marketers recognise the medium, they could
optimise particular digital activity to generate more dark social sharing. Secondly, after
knowing the audience the brands could ask questions about how they feel, think about the
brand. The marketers could ask them through interviews, surveys or focus groups.32 For
example, one of the Southeast Asia’s subscription based Internet TV service named as iflix
came up with a campaign ‘for its initial product launch on gathering and activating live data
about how entertainment lovers share content with their networks of friends, family, and
colleagues’. Mark Britt, iflix Group CEO, stated, “We knew entertainment lovers shared high
volumes of digital content with each other but, we also knew a lot of sharing was occurring
outside of public social networks. Harnessing Dark Social means we are covering all bases; no
blind spots in our view of consumers’ sharing behaviour across all channels and devices.”33

Reuben Arnold (Arnold), Vice President of Marketing and Product, EMEA Starbucks’, stated,
“The company saw dark social as an addition to its more traditional market research practises,
rather than a replacement. There was a hope in the company that dark social could provide a
more natural way to engage with customers and receive feedback and engage with trends.”34
He continued, “Because I look after marketing and product, that really is quite an exciting
opportunity. Like a lot of brands, we use trend analysis but social is a great channel to look at
where those trends are starting to gain traction. Then through our own audiences it’s about
how we create a highly engaged audience.” “We do that with online panels but [that] is a less
natural way for people to communicate and it’s not so interactive. You can do conjoint analysis
on an online panel but I find that when it’s in more of a conversational environment, it allows
us to be more dynamic with our questioning and explore what resonates. That really helped us

29 “What’s next for Starbucks? Dark social”, op.cit.
30 RadiumOne is a marketing company that provides online display, mobile, video, and social advertising services,
aiming to target brand customers through programmatic marketing campaigns. It was first launched in 2009 by
Gurbaksh Chahal.
31 “The Dark Side of Mobile Sharing”, https://radiumone.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/radiumone-the-
dark-side-of-mobile-sharing-June-7-2016.pdf, 2016
32 Loon Andre Van, “How Brands Can Get Dark Social Right”, https://wearesocial.com/blog/2019/02/how-brands-
can-get-dark-social-right, February 7th 2019
33 “The Dark Side of Mobile Sharing”, op.cit.
34 “What’s next for Starbucks? Dark social”, op.cit.

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think, we need to get ahead of this, particularly given some of our development timelines.
Listening outside our own channels is important,” added Arnold.35

By using dark social Starbucks tried to bring the marketing and product development closer.
The company also tried to explore how it could use private groups and accounts on social
media to better engage with customers. Arnold stated, “The crossover between product and
marketing allows us to have a much deeper conversation with customers who really do care
about our brand, who can then get much more involved in things like product development.”36
However, social media platforms had their own set of challenges. For example, generally on
various social media platforms if the customers click any link it could be easily tracked by the
company which hosted the platform. But if the link was shared on a private messaging
platform, then it was difficult for companies to track the referrals. According to a research by
GlobalWebIndex37, “private messaging apps - often branded 'dark social' - are used by 63% of
people to share content. Since 2018, dark social has been the largest source of referrals,
surpassing Facebook.” According to the study the most popular way to share content was
Facebook Messenger at 82%, which was followed by WhatsApp at 56%, direct message on
Instagram at 34% and Snapchat at 32%.38

Other than this, it was challenging for companies who looked for best ways to reach
consumers to know as to where this traffic was coming from with the help of analytics tools.
Hence, it was described an unexploited opportunity for advertising and marketing for
companies who were keen to capitalise through these dark social platforms. Talking on the
dark social traffic, Chase Buckle, Trends Manager GlobalWebIndex's, stated, “Users are more
likely to trust a recommendation shared in this way. Private messaging platforms are now
where meaningful conversations and recommendations are taking place between peers
actively engaging with each other. Sharing content with a large friend network accrued over
many years may have impressive reach, but it doesn't compare to the private messaging
environment, which is a lot more conducive of trust in recommendations.”

Various brands had begun to include dark social in their marketing strategy to make it easy for
users to follow up on recommendations. According to Marketing Weekly, “Starbucks is exploring
whether it can use private groups on social media to ‘have a much deeper conversation with
certain customers’.” Even though many companies viewed that using private messages as a way
to advertise the products may not be welcomed as it could be disturbing for customers. But if
used wisely it could help companies to engage the customers. Two companies namely Adidas
and Greggs had been successful in effectively using dark social medium for attracting more
number of customers. In 2017, Adidas introduced ‘Tango Squads’, for football fans who lived in
different cities, and shared information of new products and exclusive content with them.
Similarly, Greggs came up with a WhatsApp group named as ‘Festive Bake Lowers’ for customers
who wanted to see previews of new products much ahead of their launch.

35 “Starbucks Brings Dark Social Into Play For Better Market Position”, op.cit.
36 “Starbucks explores dark social for market research”, op.cit.
37 GlobalWebIndex is a market research company founded by Tom Smith in 2009, that provides consumer
profiling data to publishers, media agencies and marketers around the world.
38 Daniel Ellen, “Why 'dark social' is the Holy Grail for marketers – Focus”, https://www.just-
drinks.com/analysis/why-dark-social-is-the-holy-grail-for-marketers-focus_id128112.aspx, March 29th 2019

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André van Loon, Research & Insight Director, We Are Social39, stated, “This shift in consumer
behaviour underlines how much marketing now comes through social media, and specifically
dark social. Brands can have a big above-the-line push, but when it comes to consumers
actually talking about the brands they like, the things they want to do or buy, and following
others' recommendations, more and more of that now happens in private apps and by sharing
links. Increasingly, marketers will need to be sure to target and optimise their content so that
heavy-lifting above-the-line awareness campaigns run at the same time as easy-to-share digital
content, which consumers will then be free to use and discuss in their own time.”40 According
to a research quoted by the European Journalism Observatory, “People are moving from open
platforms such as Facebook’s News Feed to dark social platforms such as messaging apps and
private Facebook groups to share news articles. The trend is the result of privacy concerns, the
commercialization and polarizing environment on open platforms.”41

Many companies tried to find out different ways to set up an effective Dark Social Strategy. For
this, the companies started the use of Dark Social Calculator and also logged in by using Google
Analytics Account. With the help of this, the company would be able to analyse the total
estimated Dark Social Traffic and also the top pages affected because of it. Besides this, the
company could also use sharing buttons on their site and use other social tracking tools like
Po.st42, ‘which allows you to include a Linkback URL on any content that has been copied and
pasted from your site.’ In addition to this, companies could also proactively engage with the
audience via dark social. For example – a company named as HiSmile43 used Facebook
Messenger ads to re-engage with its existing customers by sending them promocodes with an
aim of motivating them for a re-purchase (Annexure II).

Seeing the rise of dark social, the number of messaging app users globally had increased. In
2016, around 1.58 billion users used the app and the number was estimated to increase to
2.48 billion users by 2021. Industry analysts were optimistic about the dark social channels and
their benefits. Robin Shaw, Co-founder of Warm Street44, stated, “When agencies get their
hands on dark social channels the data within it will be a game-changer; it shows consumers’
real interests and is incredibly valuable.”45 Amidst this scenario, it remained to be seen
whether dark social strategy would help Starbucks in bringing its marketing and product
development closer to better engage with customers and grow.

39 Social thinking is our agency approach to solving brand and business problems. It is about understanding social
behaviour before focusing on social platforms and using this social insight to create world-class creative ideas
that create value for brands and their stakeholders.
40 “Why 'dark social' is the Holy Grail for marketers – Focus”, op.cit.
41 “This is Why Users Share the News on Dark Social, Not Facebook”, https://endlessmedia.news/media-
updates/this-is-why-users-share-the-news-on-dark-social-not-facebook-967/, January 9th 2019
42 Po.st is owned and operated by RadiumOne, Inc., a company that generates first-party data about actual
customers -- from their behaviors, actions and interests demonstrated across the web and mobile. Po.st and
RadiumOne are based in San Francisco, with offices across the US, Europe and Australia.
43 A teeth-whitening products company which makes use of Facebook Messenger ads to reach out to their
consumers on Dark Social.
44 Warm Street is a consultancy firm.
45 Rehkopf Falk, “Content Marketing: How to unlock the potential of ‘Dark Social’”, https://www.ubermetrics-
technologies.com/data-driven-content-strategies-how-to-tap-into-the-potential-of-dark-social/, October 29th
2018

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Annexure I
Three Social Sharing Typology

Source: Loon Andre Van, “How Brands Can Get Dark Social Right”,
https://wearesocial.com/blog/2019/02/how-brands-can-get-dark-social-right, February 7th 2019

Annexure II
Dark Social Calculator

Source: Rehkopf Falk, “Content Marketing: How to unlock the potential of ‘Dark Social’”,
https://www.ubermetrics-technologies.com/data-driven-content-strategies-how-to-tap-into-the-

potential-of-dark-social/, October 29th 2018

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Coca-Cola’s ‘Together is Beautiful’ Campaign
Will it Spell Magic?

Case Study

This case was written by Amrita Sahay and reviewed by K. Bhagyalakshmi, Amity Research
Centers Headquarter, Bangalore. It is intended to be used as the basis for class discussion
rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. The
case was compiled from published sources.
© 2019, Amity Research Centers Headquarter, Bangalore.
Website: www.amity.edu/casestudies/
No part of this publication may be copied, stored, transmitted, reproduced or distributed in
any form or medium whatsoever without the permission of the copyright owner.

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1st Edition, Issue-1 Coca-Cola’s ‘Together is Beautiful’ Campaign:Will it Spell Magic?

Author: Amrita Sahay

Coca-Cola’s ‘Together is Beautiful’ Campaign:
Will it Spell Magic?

Abstract: The annual sporting extravaganza or Super Bowl was one of the most awaited
events for the sports enthusiasts. More than sports, the audience waited with bated breaths
for an array of commercials to be featured in the event. Many renowned brands participated
in the yearly event which was backed by months of strategic planning in order to put the best
show for the anxious audience. In due course, companies started using latest technologies and
best expertise for engaging customers in the best possible way. Ever since the late 1960s, the
global giant Coca-Cola had chosen this platform to air its commercial to highlight some of the
social causes and concerns prevailing in the society. In a sudden turn of events, the company
opted for an advertisement along with a progressive message during the pre-game show
placed just before the national anthem in Super Bowl 2019, abandoning its 11-year run of
airing its commercial during the game. Its latest theme based on ‘A Coke is a Coke’ resonated
with the company’s voice for social diversity. Would Coca-Cola’s strategic move of opting for
the pre-game spot strategically payoff for the company besides helping it in achieving the
societal goals?

Case Study

“We have a long history of using the country’s biggest advertising stage to share a message of
unity and positivity, especially at times when our nation feels divided… This year, we decided to
place our ad just before the national anthem as Americans come together in their living rooms
to remind everyone that ‘together is beautiful.’”1

– Stuart Kronauge, SVP, Marketing, Coca-Cola North America

Super Bowl was regarded as a splendid annual media event which witnessed hordes of
Americans joining together for the event. Media reports hinted that on an average about
100 million people watched the event on their Television sets mainly for the advertisements
which were being featured in the sporting event.2 The unmatched popularity of the Super Bowl
event and the massive impact it could create, obligated the companies to put in best efforts to
showcase their finest commercials in order to engage customers.

The beverage giant Coca- Cola had a legacy of utilising Super Bowl for highlighting social causes
and concerns. The global beverage giant had displayed ads with the themes ‘It’s Beautiful’ and
‘The Wonder of Us’ in 2014 and 2018 respectively. In 2019, Coca-Cola had opted for a Pre-

1 Colley Katie, “Coca-Cola reveals new Super Bowl ad promoting inclusion, diversity”,
https://globalnews.ca/news/4888995/coke-2019-super-bowl-ad/, January 25th 2019
2 Bartholomew Mark, “The transformation of the Super Bowl ad experience”, https://theconversation.com/the-
transformation-of-the-super-bowl-ad-experience-91051, February 3rd 2018

“© 2019, Amity Research Centers HQ, Bangalore. All rights reserved.”

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game Spot in Super Bowl event with theme ‘A Coke is a Coke’ and it also resonated with the
company’s efforts in promoting optimism, social diversity and inclusion.3 Would Coca- Cola’s
strategic move of featuring in the pre-game spot with the progressive message of ‘A Coke is a
Coke’ help the company in sustaining its success over the years?

Coca-Cola’s ‘Together is Beautiful’ Campaign

Super Bowl: The Marketers’ Delight

Super Bowl4 was regarded as a grand media event which was held yearly and which witnessed
hordes of Americans coming together at the same time to watch the event. Media reports
suggested that on an average about 100 million people watched the event on their Television
sets mainly for the advertisements which were being featured in the sporting extravaganza.
With the passage of time, and with the onset of new technologies, companies also deployed
the best of technical expertise for presenting the ads. In addition, the ads took cue from the
personalised habits of the customers and the trends prevailing in the market. Moreover,
experts pointed out that the ads which were featured during the Super Bowl events were
made meticulously and a lot of strategic planning went behind these ads and as soon as they
went on air, they were reviewed by analysts and critics alike.5

The hype around these ads could be justified as the Super Bowl was one of the most popular
sporting events in the US widely watched across American Television; a robust 46% loving it
just for the commercials (Exhibit I). The superlative popularity of the Super Bowl event and the
massive impact it could create, compelled the companies to put in best efforts to showcase
their finest commercials in order to engage customers.

Exhibit I
Reasons behind the Popularity of the Super Bowl Events

Source: Richter Felix, “Why Americans Love the Super Bowl”,
https://www.statista.com/chart/7921/favorite-aspects-of-the-super-bowl/, February 3rd 2017

3 Moye Jay, “Together is Beautiful: Coca-Cola Uses Big Game to Celebrate Unity and Diversity in Both its
Advertising and Hometown”, https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/together-is-beautiful-coca-cola-uses-
big-game-to-celebrate-unity-and-diversity-in-both-its-advertising-and-hometown, January 24th 2019
4 It is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL) where the champion of the National
Football Conference (NFC) competes against the champion of the American Football Conference (AFC).
5 “The transformation of the Super Bowl ad experience”, op.cit.

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In fact, experts from Stanford Business School acknowledged that the Super Bowl ads were
influential in triggering sales especially in the beverages sector. A look at the Super Bowl
ratings over the years revealed that about 40% of American households were accustomed of
watching the Super Bowl events. This explained the aggressive competition to fetch the ad
slots during the sporting bonanza. A research involving renowned beer and soda brands whose
ads featured during the Super Bowl event, led Wesley Hartmann, an Associate Professor of
Marketing at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Daniel Klapper of Humboldt University
in Berlin, inferred that the brands witnessed significant boost in earnings due to the
commercials aired during event. Interestingly, the duo also deciphered that when two
archrivals were featuring their ads during the same event, none of the parties gained
substantially.6

Some avid marketing scholars also noted that the annual Super Bowl event garnered about
100 million customers annually. The sporting event also aroused interest from the media
channels like Fox, NBC or CBS who yearned for the event’s broadcasting rights. However,
Jeremy Carey (Carey), Managing Director for Optimum Sports7, lamented the fact that over the
years the event had become tough for the marketers to advertise their brands. He remarked,
“It’s an expensive product, and rightly so: There’s no other event that generates that much
mass scale.” Besides, Carey agreed that the impact potential of the sporting event was such
that it demanded advanced planning from the marketers. In Carey’s view the marketers should
not only benefit from the attention the event grabbed while beaming the game but also focus
on harnessing the interest after the event. Diego Scotti, Chief Marketing officer at Verizon8,
shared the same viewpoint. He remarked, “Being at the Super Bowl for the sake of being at the
Super Bowl is not a strategy,” thereby stressing on the fact that the Super Bowl event required
a lot of planning and strategy from the advertisers.9

Experts emphasised the importance of strategic planning for the ad campaign as they believed
that there were a very few events that could match the grandeur and stir creating potential of
the Super Bowl. A report in Adweek in January 2019 on the Super Bowl event stated, “Hitting
the Super Bowl’s huge audience of about 115 million people, multiple times, is one way the big
guys can take advantage of being a big guy…which is getting harder and harder in modern
times.” Moreover experts added that in an age where multiple digital platforms existed, it was
a difficult job for marketers to reach and engage their audience. Therefore they emphasised
that it was essential on the part of the advertisers to put in extra effort to create their
marketing campaigns.10

Super Bowl Event and Coca-Cola’s Inclusive Advertising

Some of America’s biggest marketers had made constant efforts to feature diverse people in
their advertisements. Experts suggested that over the years, there had been ads from
companies like Coca- Cola, Proctor & Gamble and General Mills which showcased issues like
interracial marriages, people battling physical disabilities and many such sensitive issues.
Notably, the ads focussed on the change in the attitudes of the people who had risen above all

6 Parker Clifton B, “Do Super Bowl Ads Really Work?”, https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/do-super-bowl-
ads-really-work, January 29th 2015
7 Is the sports marketing agency of the Omnicom Media Group.
8 Is a subsidiary of Verizon Communications that serves as the umbrella company of its digital platforms.
9 Steinberg Brian, “Why Super Bowl Ads Have Become a Harder Sell”, https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/super-
bowl-ads-harder-sell-1203121053/, January 29th 2019
10 Chung Sandra, “5 Marketing Strategies We Learned From Super Bowl Ads”,
https://mention.com/blog/marketing-strategies/

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odds. Stuart Kronauge, Coca-Cola North America opined, “We have a long history of using the
country’s biggest advertising stage to share a message of unity and positivity, especially at
times when our nation feels divided.”11

Renowned market analysts observed that the commencement of the Super Bowl event would
be laden with positive societal messages by global giants. Global beverage giants like
Anheuser-Busch InBev and Coca-Cola were intending to showcase ads which gave impetus to
social emancipation. Sharing his views on the concept of social message in the form of
advertisement, Brynn Bardacke (Bardacke), Vice President, Content & Creative Excellence,
Coca-Cola North America said, “Unity and togetherness is a really lovely message right before
the game starts.” Since 2014, Super Bowl invariably showcased a number of ads based on
societal as well as welfare issues such as immigration, equality in gender pay, diversity and
environmental sustainability that often featured in the scheme of things.12

Moving ahead, many advertising experts believed that advertising was like a reflection of the
societal as well as commercial trends prevailing in the society. They also affirmed that the ads
depicted the culture of the society at a particular point of time. Nevertheless, analysts also
mentioned that advertising was also known to depict chaos and mayhem in society. The
analysts cited examples from the World War II era when Coca- Cola had decided that each
soldier in the war field could purchase a coke in turn for a nickel. To serve this purpose, the
company built 64 bottling plants across the globe and also vowed to make Coke accessible to
millions across the globe struggling to meet their ends in the war-time economy.

The company evolved over the years, and in 1969, it launched the ‘Real Thing’ campaign with
numerous pictures which displayed Coca-Cola in real life instances. In this ad campaign, the
global beverage giant published the ‘Boys on the Bench’ ad in the print media and showed a
group of kids of African-American origin sitting along with white kids and sipping Coca- Cola
merrily. Marketing veterans classified this ad as pioneering and capturing the civil society of
the times. Notably, the Civil Rights movement was progressing in full swing during the time
and therefore the depiction of a state of harmony was highly instrumental in setting a peaceful
state.

Forging ahead with the inclusive advertising trend, the company invited the people of Pakistan
and India together in 2013 in order to share a simple moment of pleasure and bonding with
the help of technology. To make things easy, Coca- Cola had set up two high tech vending
machines in Pakistan and India to facilitate live communications. This was a bid by the global
giant to bring together the people of the two countries despite their differences. Similarly in
2014, Coca-Cola celebrated America’s diversity with an ad spot during the Big Game. The ad
titled, ‘America is Beautiful’ showed small clippings of numerous American families signifying
different races, religion and ethnicities while singing ‘America the Beautiful’ sung by bilingual
American citizens in seven languages: English, Spanish, Keres, Tagalog, Hindi, Senegalese
French and Hebrew.13

11 Steinberg Brian, “Coca-Cola Pulls Out of Super Bowl”, https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/coca-cola-pulls-super-
bowl-commercials-2019-1203116744/, January 24th 2019
12 Steinberg Brian, “Super Bowl or Soapbox? Big Game Advertisers Risk All by Trading Silly for Serious”,
https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/super-bowl-commercials-2019-humor-politics-advertising-preview-
1203119883/, January 28th 2019
13 “From ‘Hilltop’ to ‘America is Beautiful’: Coke’s Enduring Legacy of Inclusive Advertising”, https://www.coca-
colacompany.com/stories/from-hilltop-to-america-is-beautiful-cokes-enduring-legacy-of-inclusive-advertising,
September 6th 2017

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Scholars and social scientists had noted that in a world where political environment was
changing drastically, there had been instances where private firms had incorporated the social
and geo-political sentiments in the form of advertising. Experts viewed the Super Bowl as the
perfect forum where companies would showcase various ads full of political as well as social
fervour. Experts also referred to the Super bowl event held in 2017 where companies like
Airbnb to Budweiser had aired commercials glorifying U.S.A.’s diversity. Incidentally, the event
had caught the attention of about 114 million viewers as per a ratings report issued in
February 2017. Americus Reed (Reed), Professor of Marketing at Wharton School, believed
that while advertising about socio- political concerns, the companies were essentially,
‘communicating to their consumers and employees the values they stand for’. According to
Reed, “It makes a lot of sense to project those more progressive, global, international sorts of
values.” While saying so, Reed also cautioned, “It will work to a point. As more and more
companies do this, it becomes less unique. You also have to be careful that you are not
perceived as being inauthentic in jumping on this marketing train.” Reed further mentioned his
stand as, “We are in this cultural moment right now where these topics are salient. It makes a
lot of sense that if the brand is authentically connected to these values, to jump into this. But
as more companies take that route, it can easily be perceived as a marketing gimmick and
perhaps backfire.”14

Marketing experts however also pointed out that since 2014, the Super Bowl event was
featuring ads highlighting issues like environmental sustainability, diversity and gender pay
equity. However, some experts opined that very often Madison Avenue roped in ‘the social
relevance game’ in order to lure young customers who were easily affected by societal or
developmental issues. On the flip side, these efforts had also been proved detrimental,
observed experts. The experts cited examples of Pepsi when it had to withdraw its commercial
featuring Kylie Jenner after, it triggered controversies. Similarly, Nike also withdrew its ad
featuring former NFL player Colin Kaepernick for a campaign.15

Strategy behind Coca-Cola’s Ad Campaign in 2019

Coca-Cola had a legacy of utilising Super Bowl for rejoicing unity amidst diversity (Annexure I).
Coca-Cola had aired ‘It’s Beautiful’16 and ‘The Wonder of Us’17 campaigns for Super Bowl in
2014 and 2018 respectively. In 2019, the Super Bowl theme ‘A Coke is a Coke’ also resonated
with the company’s ancient legacy. The company’s commitment towards social diversity was
not limited to their ad campaigns alone. The Coca-Cola Foundation, the company's global
philanthropic arm, had declared a monetary grant of $1 million to permit free entry to anyone
who was visiting Atlanta’s National Center for Civil and Human Rights from January 28th 2019
to whole of February 2019. Helen Smith Price, President of The Coca-Cola Foundation,
remarked on the beverage giant’s gesture as, “We can’t think of a better way to celebrate our
hometown, (This grant) is all about giving visitors and residents alike the opportunity to
understand Atlanta’s rich civil and human rights legacy, especially as tens of thousands of
guests visit our city for the Big Game.”18

14 “Super Bowl Advertising and Corporate America’s Message on Diversity”,
https://kwhs.wharton.upenn.edu/2017/02/super-bowl-advertising-corporate-americas-message-diversity/,
February 16th 2017
15 “Super Bowl or Soapbox? Big Game Advertisers Risk All by Trading Silly for Serious”, op.cit.
16 In 2014, Coca-Cola aired a Super Bowl advertisement entitled "It's Beautiful"; themed around multiculturalism.
17 “The Wonder of Us,” showcases all types of people enjoying Coca-Cola products with different people narrating
the spot, which is actually set to a poem about the brand in 2018.
18 “Together is Beautiful: Coca-Cola Uses Big Game to Celebrate Unity and Diversity in Both its Advertising and
Hometown”, op.cit.

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The 60 second ad ‘A Coke is a Coke’ was slated to be broadcasted during the pre-game telecast
of the Super Bowl just before the national anthem (Exhibit II). Marketing experts analysed that
the thought process behind the ad was to unite people together irrespective of their
differences. The ad portrayed different animated characters symbolising different walks of life
as they savoured different forms of Coke and its packages. The artistic ad was inspired by Andy
Warhol quote from the pop artist’s 1975 book, ‘The Philosophy of Andy Warhol’. The ad revolved
around the notion ‘All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good’. The rationale behind
the ad was to celebrate the differences of the people over a glass of Coca- Cola.

A ‘Coke is a Coke’ ad was originally created by Wieden+Kennedy and animated by Psyop.
Jennifer Healan (Healan), Group Director, integrated marketing content, Coca-Cola North
America, remarked on the creative ad as, “The Big Game is such a great opportunity for
America to come together, and for us to articulate what Coca-Cola is all about, We’re excited
to share ‘A Coke is a Coke’, which brings to life the optimism, diversity and inclusion our brand
stands for in a unique way.19 Besides, it was observed that the company was inspiring its fans
across the globe to share more and more selfies on social media symbolising ‘what makes
them different and beautiful’. Some of these images were being combined and recreated into
a mural on the brand’s Instagram platform during the Super Bowl game.20

Exhibit II
‘A Coke is a Coke’: Super Bowl 2019

Source : “Campaign Spotlight: Coca-Cola Shows The Beauty of Differences and Togetherness in New
Ad”, https://adobomagazine.com/campaign-spotlight/campaign-spotlight-coca-cola-shows-beauty-

differences-and-togetherness-new-ad, January 30th 2019

Coca-Cola’s Pre-game ‘Unity’ Spot – A Strategic Move?

In a surprise tale of events, Coca- Cola astounded its customers when it declared that it would
not air advertisements during the Super Bowl event. As an alternative, the company would
showcase an advertisement along with a progressive message during the pre-game show
placed just before the national anthem. Healan opined, “Within the context of what’s
happening in our country today, felt best suited to a pre-game spot, setting the stage with an
optimistic message of unity.” Sources from the company also emphasised that the

19 “Together is Beautiful: Coca-Cola Uses Big Game to Celebrate Unity and Diversity in Both its Advertising and
Hometown”, op.cit.
20 Sweeney Erica, “Coca-Cola's big game spot will celebrate diversity immediately before national anthem”,
https://www.marketingdive.com/news/coca-colas-big-game-spot-will-celebrate-diversity-immediately-before-
natio/546812/, January 25th 2019

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advertisement which had duration of 60 second would concentrate on diversity and unity
which was supposedly the regular themes in Coca- Cola’s advertisements.21 Meanwhile,
marketing experts were of the opinion that the airing the “Together is Beautiful” message of
Coca-Cola during the pre-game telecast of Super Bowl 2019 would be effective in connecting
with the people especially the youth.22

Healan stated that the pre-game advertising was the strategy of the company to capitalise on
consumers’ interests and preferred tastes. Healan further observed, “The Super Bowl has
changed. Before it was all super-secret and it was really revolving around what was happening
in the broadcast,” But consumer behavior has shifted. In 2018, about 60% of consumers who
watched it on TV also watched it on the second screen. Healan also noted, “That this is
happening pre-, during- and post-game is even an evolution for us as a company. We’ve
created more content for the super bowl than we ever have before.”23

Veteran marketing experts noted that Coca-Cola was keen on propagating the message of
unity and bonding amidst differences also due to the fact that it had been the common theme
in the brand’s marketing strategy for many years.24

Of late, America was marred with numerous societal as well as political constraints like issues
of racism, discrimination, ongoing government shutdown which left federal workers resorting
to food banks and family separations. Rosenberg also noted that in the backdrop of such a
disturbed scenario, Coca-Cola’s advertisement of togetherness and cohesiveness would propel
the people to rise above the odds and live with a sense of togetherness amidst differences.
Although, she also agreed that a single ad was not enough to foster unity in the nation, she
hoped that in the long run it would help in instigating the concept ‘different is beautiful’, and
‘together is beautiful, too’. Coca-Cola was a brand which strongly adhered to the ideals of
diversity, unity, optimism and inclusion and had a legacy of utilising the nation’s biggest
advertising stage for propagating the notions of unity and togetherness time and again.25

Meanwhile, analysts also voiced their views about Coca-Cola’s strategy of abandoning its 11-
year run of airing its commercial during the game.26 According to ‘The Daily Caller’ article, the
cost of air Super Bowl commercials had spiked from $5.1 to $5.3 million, whereas the pre-
game rates were ranging from hundreds of thousands to a few million dollars, depending on
when it is aired before the game. They felt that Coca-Cola was on cost-conservation mode as
Pepsi would be the official sponsor of the event. However, Coca-Coca’s move was looked-upon
as a strange one considering the fact that Super Bowl would be held in Atlanta, the home to
Coca-Cola.27

21 Clabough Raven, “Coca-Cola Pulls Out of Super Bowl; Will Air Pre-Game Ad Focused on Unity Instead”,
https://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/item/31316-coca-cola-pulls-out-of-super-bowl-will-air-pre-game-ad-
focused-on-unity-instead, January 28th2019
22 “Coca-Cola's big game spot will celebrate diversity immediately before national anthem”, op.cit.
23 Fera Ann Rae, “4 Reasons Why Pre-Game Content Is A Winning Super Bowl Strategy”,
https://www.fastcompany.com/1682308/4-reasons-why-pre-game-content-is-a-winning-super-bowl-strategy,
January 30th 2013
24 “Coca-Cola's big game spot will celebrate diversity immediately before national anthem”, op.cit.
25 Rosenberg Lizzy, “The Poem In Coke's 2019 Super Bowl Ad Is Actually Inspired By Andy Warhol”,
https://www.elitedaily.com/p/the-poem-in-cokes-2019-super-bowl-ad-is-actually-inspired-by-andy-warhol-
15899027, February 2019
26 Huston Todd Warner, “Coca-Cola to Air ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ Super Bowl Ad Before the National Anthem”,
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2019/01/25/coca-cola-to-air-diversity-and-inclusion-super-bowl-ad-
before-the-national-anthem/, January 25th 2019
27 “Coca-Cola Pulls Out of Super Bowl; Will Air Pre-Game Ad Focused on Unity Instead”, op.cit.

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Amidst these speculations, Bardacke, stated, “The timeless message of the spot is especially
relevant today given what’s happening in society, and we hope it will resonate with viewers as
they come together as a country to sing our national anthem. These values have been a
constant for the Coca-Cola brand because they’re enduring. And not only have we celebrated
these values… Coca-Cola is a brand and business that demonstrates them through action.”28

Annexure I
A Glance at Coca- Cola’s Ads in Super Bowl over the years (2014-2018)

Super Bowl 2014
Coca-Cola chose to celebrate the nation's future. Over a montage of Americans of a variety of
ethnicities, Coke celebrated the country's diversity with a lovely rendition of "America the
Beautiful" sung in several different languages. After crashing and burning at last year's game
with its desert chase ad, Coca-Cola came back strong with the best Super Bowl ad of 2014.

Super Bowl 2015
Coca-Cola teamed up with Novak to spread its own mission of making the Internet a “nicer”
place and teased its Super Bowl spot with shorts that included the hashtag, #MakeItHappy last
week prior to the Big Game. Besides the TV commercials, Coke is releasing four longer online
videos starring individuals and celebrities, like race car driver Danica Patrick, who have dealt
with negative messages online.

Super Bowl 2016
Coca-Cola and Marvel impressively crammed an Avengers action scene into a one-minute ad.
The diminutive Ant-Man swipes one of Bruce Banner’s cokes, and you wouldn’t like him when
he doesn’t have his coke. There’s a harrowing chase between Ant-Man and Hulk across the
city, which ends with a great payoff when the green guy finally reclaims his can. This ad
boosted Ant-Man from “no interest” to “maybe stream on Netflix” for me, and it made me
want a coke.

Super Bowl 2017
Coca-Cola's "It's Beautiful" commercial, which originally debuted during the 2014 Super Bowl,
features a multilingual rendition of "America the Beautiful." The commercial stars a diverse
cast of Americans from a range of backgrounds, from Muslims and African-Americans to white
cowboys, reminding us that America's diversity is what makes this country so "beautiful" in the
first place.

Super Bowl 2018
“The Wonder of Us” shows people of all different races, ages, and genders engaged in an
assortment of carefree activities, many of which tangentially involve bottles and cans of Coke.
Some memorable shots include kids playing spin the bottle, a wheelchair-bound daredevil
catching air off a half pipe, two cowpokes gazing up at a star-filled sky, and a pair of nature
enthusiasts jumping from a teepee into a lake at sunset.

Compiled by Author from various sources

28 “Together is Beautiful: Coca-Cola Uses Big Game to Celebrate Unity and Diversity in Both its Advertising and
Hometown”, op.cit.

Page – 229

About The Authors

About The Authors

Dr. Garima Ratna, Head of Amity Research Center, Pune, is an academician, researcher
and a professional writer. Her research and writing interests involve General
Management and Strategy, Human Resources, Business Ethics and Entrepreneurship.
Case studies authored by her draw good readership and are included in management
books authored by international gurus. She also teaches a course at Amity Global
Business School at Pune. Her previous experience includes several technical writing
assignments for premier software companies in Bangalore.

Vasudha M is a Senior Faculty Research, at Amity Research Center Chennai; who has
authored more than hundred case studies. An IIM Calcutta alumnus, her research has
focused on Marketing and Strategy. An award winning case writer, case studies
authored by her have won awards in John Molson International Case Writing
Competitions in 2015 & 2017. International management books have cases authored
by her. Vasudha’s case studies regularly feature in ‘The Case Centre Best Sellers List’
and in Amity’s ‘Top Twenty Best Selling Case Studies’. Her previous work experience
includes two years with IT major, Tata Consultancy.

Dr. Azmal Hussain has been at the helm of Amity Research Center, Kolkata for about a
decade. A doctorate in Biomedical Anthropology, he has been a consultant with World
Bank, UNICEF and Oxfam. He has edited several books, contributed research papers,
and articles on healthcare management. His case studies focus on healthcare
management and allied disciplines. 1978 copies of the case study - ‘Social Media in
Healthcare Marketing: An Evolving Success Story?’ authored by him have been sold.

Sushree Das is a Senior Faculty Research at Amity Research Center, Noida. A fervent
and a prolific case writer, has a portfolio of more than 100 case studies. Case studies
authored by her are included in International Management text books as well as in
course curriculum of leading business schools. Case study ‘Samsung's Environmental
Responsibility: Striking the Right Note for Corporate Survival’ authored by her featured
in ‘The Case Centre Best Sellers List’ in 2017. She received her Master’s degree in
Personnel Management and Industrial Relations and has a rich teaching experience.

Doris Rajakumari John is a Senior Faculty Research with Amity Research Center,
Chennai. An experienced case writer has been plying the craft for more than a decade.
Her research interests center on Marketing, Corporate Strategy and Corporate Social
Responsibility. She is a prize winning case writer, has received awards from organisers
of International Case Writing Competitions - Oikos 2015 & CEIBS 2015. Her case

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About The Authors

studies are included in Refereed Journals, Magazines and Professional Reference Books.
She teaches a course for MBA students and has participated in several workshops,
seminars and conferences.

Shilpa Bhadrapur is a Faculty Research at Amity Research Center, Pune. An
experienced case writer, her research interests include Human Resources, Organization
Behaviour, Marketing, Strategy and General Management and Business Ethics. She has
good corporate experience, has undertaken IT recruitment assignments for corporates
namely SAP, WIPRO, IBM, HP, Perot Systems, Sonata Software and Cognizant.

Nilosha Sharma is a Senior Faculty Research at Amity Research Center, Ahmedabad.
An experienced and a prolific case writer; focuses on Marketing and Strategy and
General Management. Case studies authored by her regularly feature in ‘Amity’s Top
Twenty Five Best Selling Case Studies’. The Case Centre has reported a sale of 2278
copies of Case study ‘UK’s Luxury Brand Burberry: Capitalising through Digital
Marketing Strategies’ authored by her. This case study is Amity’s ‘All Time Best Selling
Case’. She is currently pursuing Ph. D in marketing, has previously taught courses in
Marketing, Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management.

Rika Misra is a Faculty Research at Amity Research Center, Kolkata. Has rich business
writing experience. Previously was with IBS Center for Management Research,
Hyderabad, ICRA Online Limited, Kolkata, ICFAI Research Center, Kolkata, and Compare
Infobase Limited, Kolkata. A committed case writer, who has a penchant for writing
case studies on businesses creating ripples and disruption in the market, she teaches
‘Economics for Engineers’ in Amity University, Kolkata.

Jyothi Javalgi, is a Faculty Research at Amity Research Center, Chennai. Her research
interests include International Marketing, Strategic Human Resource Management and
allied disciplines. She was previously with ICFAI Research Centre, Chennai and was
involved in publishing and development of Professional Reference Books and Case
Studies in Management Education.

Disha Parikh, is a Faculty Research, at Amity Research Center, Ahmedabad. Her
research interests centre on Finance, Marketing and Strategy and General
Management. Has a Master’s degree in Finance and has both academic and corporate
experience. She has taught both Masters of Business Management (MBM) and Masters
of Computer Application (MCA) courses.

Krupa Kalsy is a Faculty Research at Amity Research Center, Pune. Her areas of
interests are Public Relations Management and Communication Skills. Trained as a

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About The Authors

journalist, has had long stints with leading Indian newspapers -The Times of India,
Indian Express. She now writes business case studies.

Keka Lahiri is a Faculty Research at Amity Research Center, Kolkata. Her research
focuses on developments in Strategic Management, Marketing and HR. Prior to writing
Case Studies, she was in business research and project management. She has been
involved with several NGOs and Human Rights Commission. She teaches a
Fundamentals of Management for lawyers at Amity University, Kolkata.

Dr. Suchitra Mohanty is a Senior Faculty Research at Amity Research Center, Kolkata.
An industrious case writer, whose research skills are acknowledged by her peers, she
has authored several case studies. Her case study ‘PepsiCo India: On Road to
Sustainable Development’ has featured consecutively in ‘The Case Centre Best Sellers
Lists’ of 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2016. She has a Ph. D in Agricultural Economics and is also
a recipient of Dr. D T Doshi Award for her studies related to India’s North Eastern
states. She teaches a course in Economics in Amity University, Kolkata.

Meenu Bhatnagar is a Senior Faculty Research at Amity Research Center, Pune. Her
research focuses on issues related to HR, Leadership, Work-Life Balance, Organisational
Spirituality and Employee Empowerment. Case studies authored by her regularly
feature in Amity’s Top Twenty Five Best Selling Case Studies. Meenu Bhatnagar has a
rich corporate experience, is also an accomplished editor and has edited several
derivative books. She has been associated with SEWA (Self Employed Women’s
Association) Ahmedabad and SABAH’s economic empowerment programmes for home
based women workers in SAARC countries.

Subhankar Dutta is a Senior Faculty Research at Amity Research Center, Kolkata. A
passionate and a prolific case writer, has a portfolio of more than 100 case studies. His
research interests are Micro Economics for Business, Business Environment, Sports and
Environmental Management. He received his Master’s degree in Economics from
Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. He also teaches a course in Economics in Amity
University, Kolkata. Currently, is pursuing a Doctorate in Management.

Sharmila Majumdar is a Faculty Research at Amity Research Center, Kolkata. Her
research interests are Economics of Education, Labour Economics, Gender and Social
impact of businesses. Her articles are published in Refereed Journals of Labour
Economics, & Business Magazines and she has also edited books. She has a Master’s
degree and an M. Phil in Economics. She teaches ‘Economics for Engineers’ at Amity
University, Kolkata.

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Team Amity Research Centers

Amity Research Center, Ahmedabad

1 Mr. Joel Sarosh Thadamalla, M. Sc., PGDM (Marketing)
2 Mr. Rajan Shah, MBA (Finance)
3 Ms. Nilosha Sharma, MBA (Marketing)
4 Ms. Meenu Bhatnagar, B. A. (Pol. Sc. Hons), M. S. (Counselling and Psychotherapy), PGDGM, PGDMIB
5 Ms. Disha Parikh, MBA (Finance)

Amity Research Center, Chennai

1 Ms. Vasudha M, B. E., PGDM
2 Ms. Doris Rajakumari John, B. Sc., MBA (Marketing)
3 Ms. Jyothi Javalgi, MBA (HR & Marketing), M. Phil. (Management)

Amity Research Center, Kolkata

1 Dr. Azmal Hussain, M. Sc., Ph. D (Anthropology)
2 Dr. Suchitra Mohanty, M. Sc., Ph. D (Agri. Eco.)
3 Mr. Subhankar Dutta, M. A. (Economics)
4 Ms. Rika Misra, M. A. (Applied Economics)
5 Ms. Keka Lahiri, B. Sc., MBA (Marketing)
6 Ms. Sharmila Majumdar, MBA, M. Phil. (Economics)

Amity Research Center, Pune

1 Dr. Garima Ratna, Ph. D (Chemistry), PGDHRM
2 Ms. Amrita Sahay, MBA (HR), Diploma in Technical Writing
3 Ms. Shilpa Bhadrapur, B. Sc., MBA (HRM)
4 Ms. Krupa Kalsy, B. Com., PG in Mass Communication

Amity Research Center, Noida

1 Ms. Sushree Das, M. A. (PM & IR), UGC NET

Amity Research Center Headquarter, Bangalore

1 Col. S. K. Kohli, B. Tech, PG (Engg.)
2 Mr. R.N. Kutty, B. Sc., AIC, PGDTD
3 Dr. A. Saravanan Naidu, M. A., M. Phil., Ph. D. (Env. Eco.)
4 Ms. K. Bhagyalakshmi, D.E.C.E., A.M.I.E.
5 Ms. Suma I.G., B. Com.
6 Ms. G. Jayasree, B. Com.
7 Ms. Ramya .N, BBM.

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HEADQUARTER TEAM

Col. S. K. Kohli [email protected]
080 – 40837607
R. N. Kutty
[email protected]
REVIEW TEAM 080 – 40837612

Dr. A. Saravanan Naidu PUBLISHING TEAM
K. Bhagyalakshmi
Suma I. G.
G. Jayasree
Ramya .N

Amity Research Centers Head Quarter, Bangalore.
# 372, 3rd Block, St. Johns Hospital Road, Koramangala, Bangalore.

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