One of the most recent—and notable—changes is that the company intends to bring back a “human touch” by writing customer names on their coffee cup. Originally, the idea was to “honor everyone who walked through the door as an individual.” That’s according to Starbucks, which adopted the practice in 2012.
During the pandemic, Starbucks mostly shifted away from writing on cups, instead putting a sticky label on the cup with the customer’s name and order. Now, however, Niccol has said his top priority is “getting back to Starbucks.” What he means is getting back to the things customers genuinely love about Starbucks, and positioning the company as a premium brand. That’s not just about the coffee, but about the experience.
“One of the other things we’re gonna be bringing back to is bringing the Sharpies back to our baristas and it’s going to give them the opportunity to put that additional human touch on every coffee experience as well,” said Niccol on the company’s recent earnings call. “So there’s a lot of — I think there’s a lot of just simple things that go a long way of saying, you know what, this is a community place, this is a special place where people are here to connect. And I think we can do that in a really meaningful way”
People do like a personal touch. I’d like it if they didn’t burn the coffee.