This past fall, Starbucks payed homage to its Seattle roots with a special coffee sleeve linking to the Seahawks Snapchat channel. With a growing number of consumers turning to social media to follow their favorite sports teams, the promotional sleeves provided a great way for Starbucks to support its hometown football team.
The special football-themed promotion was launched last September and it involved a co-branded coffee cup sleeve designed to look like a Seahawks jersey. The sleeve was also branded with a code linking back to the Seahawks Snapchat channel, in order to make it easier for fans to engage with the team. Starbucks even created exclusive content for the Seahawks as a way of enticing fans to engage with the team's social media channel.
While Starbucks has teamed up with the Seattle-based team many times before, its clever use of Snapchat helped to solidify its position as a corporate sponsor.
Why This Trend Is Growing
- Sports Team Promotion
- More companies can provide promotional items that link to a fan's favorite sports team's social media page to increase engagement and support for the team.
- Branded Snapchat Filters
- Businesses can create branded Snapchat filters to promote their products or services and increase brand awareness through user-generated content.
- Co-branded Merchandise
- Companies can collaborate with popular sports teams or other brands to create unique merchandise that appeals to a specific target market.
Industries Being Reshaped
- Food and Beverage
- Restaurants and food establishments can offer promotional items that link to a local sports team's social media page to create community engagement and support.
- Social Media Marketing
- Social media marketing companies can provide branded Snapchat filters and other unique promotional content to increase brand awareness and user engagement.
- Sporting Goods Retail
- Sporting goods retailers can collaborate with sports teams to co-brand merchandise that appeals to fans and drives sales.
