Starbucks Church?

This video appeared earlier this week in the comments section of Wednesday’s post.  Special thanks to my friend Zack for tipping me off to it and the guys who produced it.  Check out their new blog after you’re finished here.

You don’t have to know me too well to know a couple of things about me: 

1. I hate coffee.
2. I love Starbucks.

I’d like to get my hands on a copy of Starbucks’ early business model.  Somewhere in it, I’m sure they accounted for people like me who hate coffee but love them.  No one else but Starbucks can get me to go and just hang out in their coffee shop.  It’s the experience that I love.  And the coffee?  Hey pal, park enough Caramel Frappuccinos and White Chocolate Mochas in front of me, and I can pretend that I’m drinking coffee.  (Darin, don’t even bother commenting.  Those are men’s drinks and you know it.)

In his great little book Tribal Knowledge, former Starbucks marketing guru John Moore explains that the brand views their customers as explorers, whereas other coffee chains view their customers as tourists.  An explorer brings home stories, while a tourist brings home souvenirs.  Producing explorers rather than tourists means that Starbucks has to consistently over-deliver “wow!” experiences.  And even as a coffee-hater, I’ll be the first to admit they’re doing a really good job.

But I digress.  The whole point of this post was to show you this incredible video that the guys over at BeyondRelevance put together.  How many places do you see yourself or your church show up?  I counted at least three.  As my old preacher used to say, “If you can’t say amen, you oughta say ouch!”

Yep, that’s relevant.