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From the 9th Annual Shorty Awards

Starbucks Holiday Red Cups Return

Entered in Food & Beverage, Multi-Platform Campaign

Objectives

In a particularly fragmented holiday season, Starbucks wanted to generate and sustain excitement for this year's red cups, even as holiday shoppers spent more time online, and less time hitting the shops.

Strategy and Execution

For the first time in nineteen years of holiday red cups, Starbucks celebrated the season with not just one, but 10 red cup designs. Each cup was inspired by fan art from around the world.

Our social strategy harnessed the seasonal joy woven into the cup designs and celebrated what customers love most about the holidays and the iconic red cup across Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter. We rolled out the holiday campaign in 4 phases:

1. Teasing the Return of the Red Cups

We teed up excitement and speculation for the global launch of red cups with playful creative leveraged in local markets around the world.

2. Celebrating Red Cups' Arrival

To celebrate and elevate the individual designs, we created cinemagraphs and animated GIFs to lovingly bring each fan's art to life.

3. Encouraging the Spreading of Cheer

We broke through social clutter with arresting posts that reminded people of the joys of sharing a cup of coffee and holiday cheer.

4. Seasonal Product Marketing

We seamlessly intertwined the red cup spirit with promotional support of the Starbucks app.

Results

We reached a global audience with over 232 pieces of content shared across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in 30+ countries. Total global engagements exceeded the 4 million mark.

Total US Engagement:

2,235,372 Views

1,698,828 Likes

6,835 Comments

4,338 Retweets

Media

Entrant Company / Organization Name

Edelman

Link

Entry Credits