Blinging in the New Year
Starbucks is launching its Holiday 2023 collection in stores today, and it’s a mix of old favorites and new items — many of them sparkling with bling-bling.
“Christmas is a special time of the year that is really about celebrating with family and friends,” says Keith Cole, head of Marketing, Product and QA of Starbucks Philippines. “Our Starbucks tradition is really about nurturing limitless opportunities or possibilities and to make connections with every cup.”
Can you believe Starbucks is celebrating 26 years in the Philippines? Feels like yesterday that their first store opened on 6750 Ayala Avenue. I love Christmastime at Starbucks because it’s the most festive time of year. I always collected stickers for their holiday planner, consuming massive quantities of their classic Peppermint Mocha and Toffee Nut Latte to do so, and bought bags of Christmas Blend, my absolute favorite Starbucks coffee blend.
“Starbucks Christmas Blend was first introduced 39 years ago, in 1984,” according to Mich de Guzman from Starbucks’ marketing team. “Back then, Starbucks only had five stores in the US.” Christmas Blend consists mainly of Latin American beans — Guatemala Antigua and Colombia coffees to which is added a special batch of rare Sumatra beans aged five years.
“We’ve added Papua New Guinea beans to the blend to add to the spicy character,” notes De Guzman. “We noticed that ever since we started selling Christmas Blend in stores, customers would buy it not just for themselves but as gifts for friends, colleagues, and family, and they would take it to family gatherings. So eventually we decided to create a special holiday bag for Christmas gifting yearly to introduce Starbucks and Christmas.”
This year’s blend has a toasty aroma, hints of spice, an herbal touch and a velvety, chocolatey finish. You can bet I’ll be scoring bags of it before the season is over.
This year's marketing campaign features colorful dots and Char Vilchez, manager of Marketing and Global Responsibility explained why: “First, it's really about human connections. And second, we’ve been here for 26 years, and I think it's about time that we welcome the Gen Zs to our market, inspiring them to come together at their favorite Starbucks stores. So whether you're with friends, a business meeting, even alone reading a book, connections are actually being made.”
Through the Venti Van I was able to try a Christmas drink Starbucks is reviving this year, Gingerbread Latte. With its spice-infused whipped cream and aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg, it’s Christmas in a cup. Crowd favorites Peppermint Mocha and Toffee Nut Crunch Latte are also back to accompany 12 promotional food items, include bakery confections Chocolate Crepe Cake (17 layers made with Belgian chocolate), Mango Tiramisu and Mont Blanc cheesecakes (the Mont Blanc is choco-vanilla-flavored with ladyfingers inside), Pistachio Cake (fluffy sponge cake with pistachio filling), Chocolate Toffee Nut Roulade (moist chocolate cake with toffee-nut ganache), Chocolate Chip Overload cookies (with Belgian dark- and milk-chocolate chunks), and Red Velvet Whoopie Pie (two soft and chewy red-velvet cookies sandwiching a cream filling).
Product manager Che Bergonia says they also came up with several merchandise collections to elevate your coffee experience: “Imagine yourself sipping from highly covetable emerald-rhinestone green cups.” There’s also a sapphire-blue cup. “This is handmade, so no two cups are alike.”
Another collection for collectors is the Mini Blings, miniature cups they’ve released as full sizes in the past, like the Sunshine, Bubblegum and Wood collections. “And then to celebrate Starbucks’ 26th anniversary, we have a curated collection of mugs, tumblers, and a special bling cup.”
Estee Go, manager of Digital Customer Experience and Loyalty, shared new digital innovations: “Last Oct. 17 we actually scaled up our Starbucks Rewards program, making it easier for our customers to join and collect stars easier.”
By using the Starbucks card or mobile app, for every P25 you spend you’ll be able to collect stars and be rewarded with food and drinks, or stickers that will earn you that coveted 2024 planner.
The planner promotion has been ongoing for 21 years, according to Jamie Silva, Starbucks senior manager of Marketing, Digital Customer Experience and Loyalty, who listed Starbucks’ recent milestones: opening the Hiraya store in Tagaytay a few months ago, releasing the iconic Blackpink collection, opening the first Community Store in Tondo, and now unveiling the 2024 Starbucks Traditions Collection.
“What moves me today actually is the tagline or hashtag #ConnectionStartsHere,” Silva said.
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The holiday drinks, food, and merchandise are available starting today at all Starbucks stores. Food and beverages are also available via GrabFood, Foodpanda, and Pick.A.Roo, while the merchandise is also available at the Starbucks flagship store on Lazada and Shopee while supplies last.
