Welcome to the Club...

I am a sucker for status.  If you’ve been following along, I’ve talked about how much I love being Super Elite with Air Canada, and Platinum with Hyatt, and Gold with Marriott.  I enjoy the things that come along with all of this status, and I take full advantage of all of the perks. Ask anyone who’s ever traveled with me.  I use the priority line, I go to the airport lounge, and most importantly, I board the plane first. First.

I worked hard for this card.  I'm damn sure gonna use it. 

My passion for status extends beyond travel programs to regular old customer loyalty programs.  Shop here, get points, earn perks. Shop, get, earn, repeat-you know the deal.  It should be no surprise to learn that when I heard of the gold card program at Starbucks I immediately signed up.  I even downloaded the app and loaded up my account so I can pay with my phone.  I used to think that was poncy and flaky.  Now I just think it’s convenient. Yes, I'm shallow. About as deep as a backyard kiddie pool.

As soon as I signed up, I started getting offers from my new buddies at Starbucks.  When you get 5 stars, you earn Green status.  When you hit 30 stars, you become Gold.  The Holy Grail.  When you’re Green, you get free refills on your regular coffee in the store.  When you’re gold, you get those free coffee refills and a free drink with every 12 stars. You also get a fancy coffee beverage on your birthday.

Smart people over there at Starbucks

For the uninitiated, you get one star for every purchase in the store.  For some strange reason, I was getting 2 stars for every purchase.  My lovely wife was furious to find out that I was getting double stars.  I was also earning free drinks at a crazy speed.  Every time the people at Starbucks sent me an offer, I, like Pavlov’s dog, responded exactly the way they wanted me to.  Dear Sean, Go to the store and buy a drink and we’ll give you a free star.  Done.  Dear Sean, Go to the store and buy some take home coffee and we’ll give you 5 stars.  Done.  Twice.  Dear Sean, do naked cartwheels into the store…

The long and the short of this is that I am a marketer’s dream. Everything they wanted me to do, I did.  I probably became Gold at Starbucks faster than anyone on record.  I now have the gold logo on my app, and I’m expecting my special Gold Card to arrive in the mail any day now.  I’m their target customer. I’m sure they’re writing a case study about me.  I’m the proof of concept. Starbucks is brilliant.

They got me.  

The reality is that I really love status.  The kicker is that I really, really hate coffee.