This week Starbucks has announced a new social gifting campaign called Tweet-a-Coffee that lets you buy a Starbucks gift card for a friend via Twitter.
People who are registered simply need to tweet @tweetacoffee and the handle of their friend, colleague or Twitter acquaintance to be the coffee-providing friend everyone is yearning for.
To get the campaign off the ground, Starbucks gave the first 100,000 to register their own $5 gift card. It’s a bold investment from the coffee giant, who clearly wants this campaign to travel further than the 2011 social campaign designed to drive loyalty and giving through Facebook.
Social gifting platforms are really interesting. Over the last few years names such as ASOS and Fitness First have looked at it as a technique to add commercial substance to their Facebook pages. But we are yet to see this used widely; Starbucks Tweet-a-Coffee may open up a new chapter in social gifting. Maybe it’s something that could add another level of digital engagement at experiential events?