Starbucks joins forces with The New York Times to bring selected content to your phone

It isn’t all that long ago that Starbucks announced its partnership with Spotify, allowing baristas to influence the music playing in-store. Today, we have news that Starbucks will join forces with The New York Times to bring selected news and content to Starbuck’s official app from 2016.

A total of 15 news articles covering social, business and political issues will be delivered directly to the Starbucks mobile app. Purchasing digital and print subscriptions will earn customers Gold Stars, which can then be exchanged for free food and drink by the 10 million My Starbucks Rewards loyalty members. Starbucks has partnered up with The New York Times and Spotify, what company would you like to see them partner up with next?

Full Press Release:

 

SEATTLE, July 21, 2015 – Starbucks Coffee Company (NASDAQ: SBUX) today announced an elevated digital news experience for the Starbucks® mobile app, the result of an expanded relationship with The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) which publishes one of the most widely-read and authoritative news publications in the world.  As part of the agreement, The New York Times top news of the day as well as a selection of other articles addressing key social, political and economic issues will be available for free via the Starbucks® mobile app for the 10 million My Starbucks Rewards® loyalty members. These customers will also have the opportunity to earn “Stars” through paid digital and print subscriptions to The New York Times.  

“We see a future in which the Starbucks retail experience seamlessly extends to the mobile devices our millions of customers carry with them every day,” said Howard Schultz, chairman and ceo of Starbucks. “Our relationship with The New York Times is the perfect example of bringing this vision to life.  We have proudly sold millions of copies of the paper in Starbucks stores for more than a decade, and are excited to bring this experience to the next level by enabling Starbucks loyal customers to take the best of The New York Times with them wherever they go, whenever they want it.” 

Beginning in the first half of 2016, as part of this Starbucks digital news experience, the daily and weekend briefings from The New York Timeswill be delivered to My Starbucks Rewards® loyalty members through the Starbucks® mobile app as well as other relevant articles from The Times recommended by Starbucks.  Additional articles recommended by Starbucks will come from other media sources over time.  

Mark Thompson, president and CEO of The New York Times Company said, “We have enjoyed a long and fruitful association with Starbucks and we’re delighted that this agreement will further extend our digital relationship. This is another in a series of arrangements we have made recently in order to ensure that The Times continue to expand the reach of our journalism to new and interesting pools of readers. We’re particularly happy that Starbucks has also put in place an appealing incentive to turn these readers into subscribers.”

Free digital access to 15 articles per day on NYTimes.com is already available in many U.S.-based Starbucks stores through the Starbucks Digital Network. The New York Times newspaper is also widely distributed in Starbucks stores across the country.

“This expanded relationship with The New York Times allows us to directly engage our most loyal customers with the latest and most relevant news of the day,” added Kevin Johnson, president and coo of Starbucks.  “Through these types of relationships, we are well on our journey to provide our most loyal customers with the opportunity to earn Stars everywhere and redeem them for food and beverages in Starbucks stores.”

My Starbucks Rewards® loyalty members will be able to “Earn Stars Everywhere,” through both Starbucks and non-Starbucks purchases.  Starbucks recently announced a multi-year deal with Spotify, which first introduced this new opportunity for Starbucks loyalty program members to earn Stars through purchases made with other companies. As part of today’s announcement, My Starbucks Rewards customers will also earn Stars by purchasing paid digital and print subscriptions toThe New York Times. Customers will then have the ability to redeem those earned Stars for food and beverages at participating Starbucks® stores.

The agreement with The New York Times links more than 7,000 company-operated Starbucks stores in the U.S. with the 10 million My Starbucks Rewards® loyalty members in a new and highly relevant way. Furthering its plan to build one of the most robust digital ecosystems of any retailer in the world, Starbucks continues to find new ways and platforms to engage and stay connected with its customers.  Providing its most loyal customers with the most relevant news of the day from one of the most trusted news authorities, The New York Times, is one more way that Starbucks enriches its customer relationships with benefits that are meaningful and unique.

 

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