The exasperating state of modern marketing

WHEN I first read the other week that Starbucks was encouraging its staff to write notes on customers’ coffee cups such as “you’re amazing” and “seize the day”, I thought it was a joke.

But no. The company turns out to have an entirely serious plan to foster “moments of connection” with patrons that means any hapless purchaser of a caramel brulee latte now risks such an experience. 

Customers may also be handed a cup with a smiley face or, if they look familiar, a note saying: “Hello again”. It’s all part of a turnaround strategy hatched by its latest chief executive, Brian Niccol, to boost its sagging sales. Niccol, former head of the Chipotle burrito chain, became Starbucks’ fourth boss in less than three years last year and, for the sake of the 360,000-odd people he employs worldwide, I hope he succeeds.