Apple/Starbucks Partnership
On September 5, 2007, Apple and Starbucks announced that they entered into an exclusive partnership to provide end users the opportunity to download music through iTunes. In order to access the service, a customer goes to a participating Starbucks location with their iPod® touch, iPhone™ or PC or Mac® running iTunes. The device automatically recognizes the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store using a high-speed Wi-Fi wireless network. There is no connection fee or hotspot login required. An icon pops up on their device through which the customer is connected to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. Customers can browse, search for and freely preview as many songs as they want. There is also a new “Now Playing” service that displays the name of the song playing in the Starbucks store at that moment. The end user can easily buy and download any songs or albums they want to purchase directly to their device.
Apple benefits from this partnership by expanding their customer base by making it easier to purchase music or videos. When the partnership was first announced, Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO at the time said that “Getting free access to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store and the ‘Now Playing’ service at Starbucks is a great way for customers to discover new music. Imagine walking into a participating Starbucks, hearing a great song, and being able to instantly download it onto your iPod or iPhone. We think this is very cool.” (Apple Press Info, 2007, September 5)
Starbucks benefits by providing their customers with a new way to entice customers into their stores. Howard Schultz, chairman of Starbucks Coffee Company stated that “With this partnership, we’re bringing Apple’s leadership in digital music together with not only our retail footprint, but the unique Starbucks experience, to offer customers a world-class digital music experience. Introducing this new service is a natural extension of our music strategy which only enhances the retail coffee experience for customers by helping them
Apple benefits from this partnership by expanding their customer base by making it easier to purchase music or videos. When the partnership was first announced, Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO at the time said that “Getting free access to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store and the ‘Now Playing’ service at Starbucks is a great way for customers to discover new music. Imagine walking into a participating Starbucks, hearing a great song, and being able to instantly download it onto your iPod or iPhone. We think this is very cool.” (Apple Press Info, 2007, September 5)
Starbucks benefits by providing their customers with a new way to entice customers into their stores. Howard Schultz, chairman of Starbucks Coffee Company stated that “With this partnership, we’re bringing Apple’s leadership in digital music together with not only our retail footprint, but the unique Starbucks experience, to offer customers a world-class digital music experience. Introducing this new service is a natural extension of our music strategy which only enhances the retail coffee experience for customers by helping them
References: Apple Press Info, (2007, September 5), Apple and Starbucks Announce Music Partnership, retrieved from http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/09/05Apple-and-Starbucks-Announce-Music-Partnership.html Del Rio, Michelle, (n.d.), Your Latte with a Song, retrieved from http://www.journalism.nyu.edu/publishing/archives/livewire/archived/a_song_with_tha/index.html Allison, Melissa, (2007,September 6), Sip Starbucks, access iTunes, retrieved from http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2003870859_starbucks06.html