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Caramel. Sugar cookies. Peppermint. Steamed milk and sugar in red-green paper cups. Festive names. Latte flavors that would make Santa’s mouth water at your favorite green-mermaid coffee chain, complete with festive sweet treats to match. What could this powdered sugar-covered dreamland scenario be? You guessed it: the Starbucks 2024 Winter Menu has arrived.
Nothing screams ‘fa-la-la-la-la’ and ‘#wintercore’ more than the release of the ever-popular (and justifyingly pricey) array of holiday-themed Starbucks drinks, offered only between November and January to customers globally. Clocking in right around Thanksgiving, kids, teens, and adults alike flock to Starbucks for a “sip of holiday spirit,” to quote the famous winter drink cups themselves. In fact, the release of the coveted menu has become such an event that entire groups of ‘Starbucks-lovers’ (come on, what’s Christmas without a Taylor reference?) gather to rejoice when the menu comes out each year, hypothesizing the meaning behind everything from changed flavors to new additions. Sure, it’s all fun and games right now, but as a self-proclaimed top customer at Starbucks who absolutely adores the holiday ‘Caramel Brulee Latte,’ I find myself rapidly downing winter Starbucks…and funds. In order to preserve my sanity, and let’s face it, my dignity, I’m convinced I’m not the only sucker to fall for the seduction of the Winter Menu. So, I’ve set out to understand what exactly makes Starbucks’s ‘winter rebrand’ feel like such a Christmas miracle. Here are the two main reasons why.
The LIMITED EDITION Time Frame.
We, as humans, are sociologically and biologically programmed to want what we can’t have. It’s a tale as old as time. Grass is greener, etc. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that some genius at Starbucks’s marketing team sought the opportunity to increase the value of certain drinks, and they ran with it. By making certain drinks, flavor combinations, and baked goods available during a specific time frame and only then, the hype around the products increases. Take me, an average teenage Starbucks customer, for example. I just enjoyed my first Caramel Brulee Latte of the season a few days ago, and I’ll swear to anyone who asks that it’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted. Subconsciously, however, even I know that the specific flavoring that goes into that latte (which is honestly just five times more sugar than usual) is nothing special, in the grand scheme of things. I could probably grab a caramel syrup from my local grocery store, stir it into my homemade instant coffee, and produce a relatively similar taste. It’s the fact that the drink has been withheld from me for ten months that makes it taste so much sweeter than it really is, and there you go. Another one bites the coffee-scented dust.
Branding and Design.
What’s a good marketing opportunity without, well, actual marketing? The idea behind the winter menu is obviously to make it synonymous with the holidays in customers’ minds, so much so that the words ‘Starbucks’ and ‘X-mas’ or ‘Hanukkah,’ or ‘Kwanzaa,’ become one and the same. To do this, the coffee chain has utilized three simple substeps:
Coffee cup, store, and merchandise decor – Right around the beginning of November each year, customers will see their local Starbucks quite literally ‘decking its halls.’ The cups they serve beverages in and the menus from which they’re ordered are now exclusively red and green, adorned with ornaments, fun holiday designs, and religiously ambiguous winter characters (snowmen, etc.). This drastic change creates a deliberate ‘vibe-change’ into holiday mode, giving the store and its new menu an air of celebration, exclusive to a time of year that many already associate with time off from work and school, memories with family, and a generally happy atmosphere. This way, the customer’s own experiences and positive connotation of the holiday season do the marketing work all by themsleves. Genius, I know.
‘Holiday-themed’ flavors and drink names – cinnamon, caramel, peppermint galore. I even went to grab coffee with a friend the other day to find red and green sprinkles dashed at the top of her drink. These seemingly small additions further contribute to the essence of holiday cuisine and, especially in places like San Diego, where it doesn’t actually get cold enough to warrant the purchase of hot beverages, allow customers to feel included in the sweater-weather festivities of true winter wonderlands without…well, actually having snow.
In-store and app-based winter discounts/deals – With the gift-giving atmosphere already at play nationally, the holidays become a peak time to announce deals and savings, especially with a little ‘Christmas miracle’ or ‘tis the season’ tag slapped on top. The holidays drain us all of money, and even a dollar off your next gift card purchase for your cousin’s dog’s best friend can seem like a saving grace. With people thinking they’re saving hard-earned holiday money by purchasing gifts from your store, they’re more likely to keep coming back.
Looking back, it's quite possible I may have grossly overanalyzed what is simply a fun marketing gimmick by a coffee chain company employed to bring in some extra holiday dough. However, if there’s even the slightest possibility that the Starbucks winter menu is part of some long, twisted plot to drain all customer bank accounts in the next five years, consider it foiled! You’re welcome. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my caramel brulee latte and snowman cookie are ready.
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