Meet Me at Starbucks

Read the campaign story

Starbucks launched Meet Me at Starbucks in September 2014. Contemporary reporting describes a film drawn from one day’s activity across stores, while a creator portfolio documents interactive branches into individual stories. The portfolio credits 72andSunny, director Josh Nusbaum and creative director Zachary Richter. Short edits and related story branches remain part of the same campaign.

The materials establish an editorially selected portrait of gatherings, not a comprehensive account of how every visitor experiences the venue. This case adopts no claim that the campaign increased belonging, changed behaviour or improved sales. Its subject is the decision to present a place through the activities it enables, while recognising that access, comfort and welcome cannot be inferred from a few appealing scenes.

Editorial interpretation: a venue can become more meaningful when audiences see purposes beyond the transaction. A conversation, shared project or ordinary pause gives the physical setting a role in a larger human story. The brand should remain proportionate to that role. People’s relationships and achievements are not created by the sponsor simply because an encounter happens on its premises.

Editorial interpretation: optional branches let viewers choose a story that interests them without requiring everyone to follow the same long sequence. This can support depth, but it also creates unequal exposure. Important context, consent information or limitations should not be hidden in a branch that most viewers never open. Each entry point needs to remain understandable as an honest fragment of the larger work.

Choose stories that retain participant agency

Start with what people want to share, not with a predetermined emotional conclusion. Give contributors a clear understanding of where their material will appear and how it may be edited. For early concept work, use fictional scenarios rather than soliciting intimate experiences. The communication should make room for ordinary, varied uses of a place instead of demanding an unusually moving story from everyone involved.

Design a useful short path and an optional deep path

Make the main sequence complete enough to stand alone, then offer additional detail for interested viewers. Test whether people understand why each branch exists and can return without losing their place. Do not make the most important qualification depend on extra clicks. Interactivity should give viewers meaningful choice rather than turn a simple story into a navigation task that obscures its point.

Check the gap between portrayal and service reality

Ask which expectations the film creates about the venue and whether the organisation can reasonably support them. A warm atmosphere in an advertisement does not guarantee availability, accessibility or a particular social experience. Keep practical information easy to find. Measure what viewers believe the place offers, including unsupported assumptions, instead of treating emotional response as sufficient evidence that the communication is working.

A small test for another brief

Proposed adaptation: create three illustrated fictional scenes showing adults using a community meeting room, with one short overview and optional text cards explaining each activity.

Measure whether reviewers understand the room’s role and can distinguish available facilities from hoped-for social outcomes. Observe which optional cards they choose and whether navigation adds useful detail. Ask what they would expect on an ordinary visit, then remove any implication that booking the space guarantees friendship, productivity or a particular emotional experience.

Stop if the concept appropriates private stories, hides material limits in optional content or presents selected encounters as universal service evidence.

• Use original fictional characters and no customer recordings.
• Include clear booking and access limitations.
• Keep every story understandable without opening additional cards.