Today, as Warhol predicted, everyone has their 15 minutes of fame. There’s nothing significant about that. The truly transcendent thing isn’t getting there, but staying there. In marketing, there are brands that are always in the conversation, always relevant. Starbucks is one of them. The siren chain knows how to surgically manage every point of contact with its consumers, blending the sensorial, the functional, and the emotional… producing business results.
Starbucks leaves no room for improvisation. Proof of this is Deep Brew, its Artificial Intelligence platform.
The interesting thing isn’t that Starbucks has an AI app, but rather the path it took, because there are lessons applicable to anyone managing a large company, a small business, or even a personal brand. Let’s grab a double espresso and analyze the case.
AI at Starbucks: A story without robots, but with rewards
- Starbucks launches an app that promised to reward customer loyalty. So far, nothing revolutionary. But what seemed like a simple rewards program was actually the beginning of something much bigger: a large-scale data collection strategy. Every order, every location, every preference, every time of day someone ordered something was recorded.
What on the outside was a simple loyalty program, for Starbucks was the first step towards becoming a benchmark.
When McDonald’s acquired Dynamic Yield in 2019 to personalize its experience, Starbucks understood that the battle for attention wasn’t about competing for the next corner, but about algorithms. The enemy wasn’t another chain anymore, but the standard of personalization that consumers were beginning to expect from any brand . Thus was born Deep Brew, the AI at Starbucks… although you may know it as Starbucks Rewards.
Deep Brew, the algorithm that knows what you’ll drink before you do
According to the latest information on AI at Starbucks:
- Starbucks has more than 100 million customers in 80 global markets, with nearly 40,000 stores worldwide.
- In the United States, active app memberships surpassed 34 million in the first quarter of 2024.
- Starbucks Rewards has more than 75 million active members worldwide (as of November 2023) and says it aims to double that number within 5 years.
- It’s said that a quarter of all its transactions go through the app. That means Starbucks doesn’t just have data; it has context. It knows what you order, when you order it, and where you order it from.
The magic happens when that ocean of data passes through Deep Brew’s filter and turns into predictions… and then, suggestions.
Knowing you better than you know yourself
Deep Brew doesn’t just predict what you’ll want. It anticipates. With its Digital Flywheel system, Starbucks’ AI can cross-reference your habits with external factors—temperature, local events, time of year—and generate a personalized recommendation that doesn’t feel intrusive, but rather convenient.
Personalization isn’t a marketing gimmick. When executed well and with the user’s permission, it’s a way to understand and love the customer. And that can’t be improvised.
AI at Starbucks goes beyond personalization
Believe it or not, Deep Brew isn’t just a customer-facing app. It’s a business tool.
The algorithm analyzes purchasing patterns to forecast demand, adjust inventory, allocate staff by time slot, and even decide which coffee machine needs servicing. This is AI operating behind the scenes to ensure a frictionless consumer experience.
In times where efficiency is the new profitability, Starbucks demonstrates that well-implemented technology is not meant to replace humans, but rather to allow them to focus on what matters: connecting.
As if that weren’t enough, opening each new branch isn’t an act of faith or a chance attempt to see if it “sticks.” It’s a mathematical operation. Starbucks uses Atlas, a tool that analyzes everything from traffic to weather patterns, income, consumer habits, and potential cannibalization zones.
The goal? For each store to be a center of profitability, not a mere territorial extension. Growth for the sake of growth is the ego’s favorite recipe… and egos are terrible strategists.
Innovate with AI? Only if it makes sense
At Starbucks, innovation isn’t born out of whim, but rather from a deep understanding of the consumer. If data reveals that nearly half of tea drinkers don’t add sugar, the brand launches unsweetened options. If a heat wave is approaching a particular city, the brand launches a local Frappuccino promotion.
This isn’t reactive marketing. It’s predictive marketing. It’s strategic anticipation. It’s not about launching more products, but about launching the right ones. That’s what differentiates a desirable brand from one that only knows how to fill shelves.
Starbucks AI Results: 30% ROI
As a result, according to internal reports, the adoption of AI has generated a 30% increase in its ROI (return on investment) and produced a 15% growth in customer engagement levels, compared to its previous marketing methods.
We’re not talking about science fiction. We’re talking about a real company, with real stores, real employees… that used Artificial Intelligence to increase its ROI by 30% and engagement by 15%. How? With data-driven decisions, yes, but also with a clear vision of what it means to be relevant today.
Starbucks doesn’t want to sell you a cup of coffee. They want you to feel like that coffee was exactly what you needed. That’s the real return: the emotional one.
What do we learn from all this?
ChatGPT isn’t going to solve your business… You need to think… think… just like Starbucks and have three things:
- Curiosity to understand your client.
- Obsession with improving the experience.
- Courage to trust the data.
Once you have the answers, understand that AI is not an end, it’s an extension of the strategy.
