I wish that there were more 4^th of July’s… For on that day, every year, since 1776, and for one day only, we all become one – Americans that are proud to be part of a country that has always considered freedom of expression an inalienable right.  On this day, America’s birthday, it becomes emphatically un-American to have political differences dampen our national spirit.  Wish that it were to continue…

CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, said it very eloquently, when he wrote in a full page letter in the New York Times, “America needs to win this election more than any party does.”  Indeed. Schultz invites Americans to put “citizenship before partisanship.” This is a call for Americans to express their voice in the political conversation.  How American is that?  Certainly carries more weight in celebrating America than apple pie and fireworks…

The Occupy Wall Street movement certainly gave a voice to the 99%ers. It has been a collective voice that became a disruptive force that galvanized attention.  The difference with Schultz’s proposition is that now it is a Corporate America entity that is leading the rallying call for Americans to have their collective say — 99%ers or otherwise.

Starbucks has put their action where their cry is, and started the tag #INDIVISIBLE to “collect and amplify” our voices. But Americans must grab this bait and care enough to participate.  And when we do, who would dare to argue with such a powerful collective voice?  It would demand more from our political leaders – more honesty and more of a transparent truth.

Remember the part in our constitution that states a government “by the people and for the people?” The constitution can state it, but we have to do it.  Apathy is downright un-American.

Imagine if other corporations followed Starbuck’s lead.  Occupy Wall Street may just have an unlikely competitor — Corporate America.

Well, there goes the neighborhood. No, not actually the neighborhood, but maybe the brand identity, as we know it.

The actual news about Starbucks’s intention to serve alcohol – beer, wine and hard liquor, made the media rounds just a week ago, but it was out there well before that. The rumor mill of its launch had been trickling out in tidbits, ever since the chain first served alcohol in a “soft” trial run, back in October 2010 at a single Seattle store. It has been serving wine and beer in limited Oregon and Seattle stores for the last two months.

But now there are plans afoot that the Seattle-based company will sell beer and wine in as many as 25 locations by the end of this year, to include stores in Chicago, Atlanta and Southern California, among the selected locations.  It should prove good business.
The rationale behind this move is clear: U.S. Starbucks stores get 70% of business before 2 p.m. Clearly the company wants to maximize its real estate space and labor costs, after the early crowd thins out.

Apparently Starbucks executives have struggled for the last few years, trying to decide how to expand their brand. They finally found their answer: alcohol. According to Clarice Turner, senior vice president of U.S. operations, the company isn’t considering the concept for the whole chain. We’ll see… The good news is that at the stores that serve alcohol, there will also be fruit-and- cheese plate and focaccia with olive oil. Yumm…

Look, no one can fault them for wanting to add brand extensions. With 10,700 Starbucks cafes in the U.S. and about 6,200 internationally, building organically through brand extensions, makes sense. They are following suit with such other companies as the Dunkin’ Donuts chain and McDonald’s, that have introduced non-breakfast foods to attract people during slower times.

Although coffee and Starbucks have just about become synonymous, globally, I do have to admit that the real essence of the brand remains constant – the Starbucks experience – a lifestyle. Time will tell whether the rapid spread of the new concept will obliterate the brand as we know it –or morph into a new one..

The jury is still out…

It takes a village, in this case tens of millions inside the village, to pitch in and help.  It is, and has always been, the American Way – you know, helping to “pull someone up by their bootstraps” type of thing.  We have a history of that.  When disasters, as in hurricanes, foreclosures, terrorist threats, or others strike, it is the people in our big USA “village” that come to the rescue in whatever personal way they can — with blankets, food, money, simple ingenuity or maybe just an extra shoulder on which to lean.

But the present joblessness calamity in our country has triggered no such response to date.  It has left both Washington and Corporate America divided, dumbfounded, frozen and bent on playing the “blame game.”

But then — along comes Howard Schultz, Starbucks Corp.’s CEO who said, “Right now we can’t wait for Washington… Businesses and business leaders have to recognize that we have a shared responsibility in trying to make a difference.”

And there you have it.  Starbucks, with its “Create Jobs USA program” initiative, just jumpstarted the “American Way” and is roping in masses of people to support it…

Starbucks is pinning its hopes on customers who may be willing to part with $5 or more, when they stop in for their morning cup of “Joe.”  Maybe it sounds like not much, but just do the math — $5 times millions of people who visit its nearly 7,000 company-owned U.S. stores each day!  And the reward — a red, white and blue wristband that says “Indivisible.”

Smart… part of that ‘ole spirit.

The facts: Seattle-based coffee chain is collaborating with the Opportunity Finance Network, a nonprofit that works with nearly 200-community development financial institutions to provide loans to small businesses and community groups. Starbucks says 100 percent of the donations will go toward loans for firms and organizations that can add jobs or stem job losses.

It’s not the first time that Schultz has addressed the nation’s economic woes. In August, he sent more than 200,000 Starbucks employees a memo urging them to do what they can to help business through hard times. After that, he hosted a national telephone forum, bought full-page ads in two major newspapers and started a website, Upwardspiral2011.org.

Schultz says he feels personal responsibility to do something to stimulate the U.S. economy.  Are you listening now, Corporate America?

Sure, Starbucks is growing and will gain by hiring about 200 people a day in the U.S. as it remodels thousands of stores and adds another 200 locations next year. But the key word is hiring, when others take the cautionary road and stay the course.

It may take a village to make a final difference, but it takes a leader to carve out the path. Let’s face it. We need more Schultzes!  I know where I will drink my coffee tomorrow morning, and happily part with $5.  Want to join me for coffee?

In today’s world of crowdsourcing and outspoken self-proclaimed critics, the answer may very well be that it is simply another chicken and egg story.  Some will say the company, while others will point out that the customer is always “king.”

Take the Gap saga, as an example.  In my blog of October 12, 2010, I posed the same question when the company acquiesced to a consumer outcry against its new logo roll out – an outcry that flooded the Internet with derisions, mockeries, parodies, causing the company to retract their new logo. Never mind that the new logo was designed based on two years of market research with costly development costs.  A knee-jerk reaction at best…

Now it’s Starbucks’ turn to roll out a new logo on its 40^th anniversary and, to the chagrin of its loyal customers, the new green logo is essentially Starbucks’ representation of its old logo’s female siren, but without the company name or ‘coffee’.  Actually, it is kudos to Starbucks that they have evolved to the level of recognition where a name is unnecessary such as several well-known companies, including Apple, Inc. (AAPL.O) and Nike, Inc (NKE.N), which have long used only symbols to represent their brands.

Much like the Gap roll out, self-described Starbucks fanatics were not impressed and, among hundreds of comments on Starbucks’ website, called for the company’s name to be put back into the logo.  There is an OMG reaction to the change and the resulting negative buzz, although not as frenzied as with Gap to date, is building in fury.  As an example, from infuriated customers we hear comments such as, “I think it’s nuts,’ and “What’s it going to be — the coffee formerly known as Starbucks?” or “At the rate the logo is evolving, it will soon be nothing but an extreme close-up of the mermaid’s nose,” or  “Who’s the bonehead in your marketing department that removed the world-famous name of Starbucks Coffee from your new logo?”

What I don’t get is why customers bother, when their worries, if any, should be about taste or price changes. The on and offline media have certainly fueled the new uproar by headlining Starbucks’ new logo in major publications. The last two days must have been slow news days…

But what is more worrisome is the changing relationship between brand and customer. There is a growing sense that customers, regardless whether Gap, Starbucks, or other, feel they own the company to which they have given their loyalty – that it is theirs, because without them there is no company and, as such, corporate headquarters owe them the courtesy to consult them before changes occur.  The worry is that with the explosion of social media and real-time feedback, has given customers a platform from which to hold brands hostage to their whims of likes or dislikes.

The reality is that companies spend years on market research and money to fund it, research that nets new opportunities or roads to take.  Customers would do well to trust the companies that gave them the products that they adopted as theirs — and leave the driving of company growth – to the companies.

Unlike the Gap, Starbucks hasn’t budged. The logo stays so far…