Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

Tiffany Ryan, Vice President, Account Services, Palio

People would say that I am a Starbucks brand loyalist. A frequent flyer on the caffeine jet. Passionate about my triple-venti-nonfat-caramel-drizzle latte. As a marketer, I have been betrayed by Starbucks.

“The world has changed and Starbucks has changed,” says Howard Schultz in his explanation of the new Starbucks logo that was revealed in March of this year. “The new logo…allows us the freedom and flexibility to think beyond coffee.” Starbucks has been diluting its brand for a number of years. The commoditization of its product – coffee – led to dissatisfied customers and industry analysts wondering if the brand would survive. A memo from Howard Schultz to his top executives in 2007 leaked to Starbucksgossip.com and gained the attention of the New York Times. In it, Schultz asked executives to de-commoditize the Starbucks brand and go back to their core values. A message, The New York Times points out, vastly different from the message he delivered to Wall Street.

I remember the old Starbucks fondly. In fact, I worked there my first year out of college, helping to open the first Starbucks in Saratoga Springs. I didn’t really drink coffee at the time, but I will tell you it was one of the favorite jobs I’ve ever had. I remember making the perfect latte for a customer – two shots pulled in 20 seconds (from the old grind and tamp espresso machines), filling ¾ of the coffee cup with milk, ¼ with foam. Steaming milk was an art – getting the foam just right was critical. Having enough foam to fulfill a special request of an extra dry cappuccino took time, patience, skill – carefully watching the thermometer to ensure it was steamed to just the right temperature.

We had customers who were in every day for their special order. When you handed them their hand crafted, perfectly created beverage, you could see the instant gratification in their face, in their stance. For them, it wasn’t just coffee, it was the start of their day.

It was an experience – an experience rooted in coffee.  Customers would ask if we had Italian Soda, breakfast sandwiches, fountain drinks. No, we had coffee. Excellent coffee. We were Starbucks.

Today the experience is vastly different. Baristas are no longer tethered to the espresso machines, working to pull the perfect espresso shot. Milk is steamed by tossing a pitcher under an automatically timed steamer. I can’t remember the last time my venti latte cup was actually topped with the right amount of foam. I watch sadly as my caramel drizzle sinks right to the bottom of the cup, no longer positioned at the top of my cup with a nice, thick foam.

Starbucks is no longer about coffee. They are about the masses. Schultz says it here: “…forming connections with millions of customers every day in our stores, in grocery aisles, at home and at work. Starbucks will continue to offer the highest-quality coffee, but we will offer other products as well.”

I don’t dispute that in order to survive in this economy, with increasing competition and the need to grow its customer base, Starbucks needs to evolve. But this logo evolution has me wondering and questioning – what exactly does one of my favorite brands stand for? How can they juggle frappucinos, iced tea, sandwiches, and who knows what else and still be about the best coffee? Will they ever make me a perfect latte again? What exactly does it mean when your favorite coffee shop removes the word coffee from their logo?

The key lesson here is evolving without disenfranchising your brand loyalists. These people have been with you for years, supporting your core values, and driving your business. They will walk 10 city blocks to seek out your store, instead of drinking Starbucks-brewed coffee from the hotel lobby. They still prefer to buy beans from the Starbucks shop instead of a big box store. Most important, they are the people who believe your brand experience is truly unique and not a commodity.

The jury is still out on the evolution of Starbucks. But as a marketer, I have to admit, I’m concerned about the viability of their new platform. I can no longer answer the question, “What does your favorite brand stand for?” The answer is no longer a singular, concise thought. That can’t be a good thing.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

Andy Smith, EVP, General Manager – Director of Global Operations, Palio

When you’re developing and executing on strategy for your medical clients, you can’t do it alone – and you can’t do it in silos, either. It’s imperative that all of the groups involved – advertisers, clinical researchers, communications, marketers, med ed, promotions, public relations, social media – are all spending time with each other on a regular basis.

In times when budgets only get smaller, timelines only get shorter and workloads only get larger, it can seem like a luxury to cross-pollinate your team by spending time with each other. It’s all very well for the initial brainstorming session and whenever the client comes to visit, but for every day, many prefer to keep each group buckled down, focused on their own activities.

But that hyper-focused mentality can be just the problem. Everyone involved with a brand is on the same team but there are many very different focus points going on at once. To draw out the “team” analogy, each member of a sports team is focused on something different, although everyone is working toward the same goal of success for the group.

If they never think about each other’s work, though, they’re not going to be very good as a team at all. Sometimes it helps for a right fielder to come in and see how the game looks from the catcher’s point of view. A midfielder must know what the goalie is thinking. These teammates have very different responsibilities, but have to understand what else is going on in order to play together successfully.

Perhaps this is a trite comparison, but it’s never been as apt as in current times, where – as stated above – everything must be done faster and cheaper than ever. Understanding drives efficiency. When you know what your teammates are doing, you know how to do your work to help them with theirs. You’re thinking of your collective goal, not your immediate task.

So even if you’re not wearing matching jerseys, remember who you’re working with. Tear down your silos, your boxes and walls. Start rotating positions with your teammates and help everyone remember your end goal: making it possible for your brands to improve health for patients.

Palio is an advertising agency revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing to create experiences that will Never Be Forgotten.

Janetta Roach, Senior Editor, Palio

Redundancy. Pleonasm. Tautology. They all mean essentially the same thing: needless repetitive words or phrases. When writing advertising copy – whether for journal or magazine ads, labels on pill bottles, or banner ads on the Web – space is often at a premium, so cutting any redundant words not only makes sense from a cost perspective, but leaner copy also strengthens your message.

Below is a list of frequently used terms or phrases that unnecessarily repeat words or meanings that can usually be avoided (redundant words are italicized).

Adequate enough

Advance planning

Brief in duration

Combine together

Completely full/empty

Consensus of opinion

Count/divide up

Covered over

Distinguish the difference

Each individual person

Eliminate altogether

Empty out

Estimated at about

Etc (at the end of a list introduced

by include, including, or eg)

Fellow colleagues

Fewer in number

Filled to capacity

First ever

Free gift

Fuse together

General rule

In order to

Interval of time

Large/small/bulky in size

Lift up

Major breakthrough

Near to

Oval/square/round in shape

Own personal view

Past history

Period of time, time period,

point in time

Personal friend

Precedes in time

Predict in advance

Red in color

Repeat again

Revert back

Rough/smooth in texture

Skin rash

Soft/firm in consistency

Sour/sweet/bitter tasting

True fact

Younger/older than 50 years of age

Palio is a full-spectrum global pharmaceutical and consumer advertising, marketing, and communications agency that excels in brand creation and specializes in brand strategy, product launches, global marketing, and digital and integrated media.