Starbucks Scuttles Odyssey: One of the World's Most Visible Big Brand Blockchain Projects

Blockchain Journal Customer Journey Analyst Sophie Maxx Waldman joins BCJ editor-in-chief David Berlind at the NFT.NYC blockchain conference for a conversation about the buzz at the event and how the death of the NFT-based Starbucks Odyssey customer engagement and loyalty program impacted her as both a program user and a Starbucks customer. Sophie has written about her experiences with the Odyssey program multiple times, and not only was she sad to see the program – one of the most visible of its kind in the world – come to an end, but Starbucks' termination of Odyssey raises questions about the viability of such NFT programs for other global brands. What went right? What went wrong? What does it mean for other global brands looking into NFTs to drive new or improved business outcomes? How might Starbucks take some of the learnings from the Odyssey program and incorporate them into its existing Rewards program (one of the largest and most visible customer loyalty programs in the world)? As David and Sophie point out, Starbucks tried pretty much everything in the book to make the program work. It integrated augmented reality into several of the user "journeys." It relied on NFTs to provide exclusive token-gated experiences. It rewarded program members with NFTs for repeat purchases and sampling new coffees. It gamified certain elements of the program including its Discord-based community center. But despite Odyssey's success at transforming traditional loyalty programs into immersive, social, and gamified experiences while at the same time fostering deeper customer connections with the brand, the program was still scuttled. As Sophie and David discuss, one challenge faced by Starbucks and other brands entering the NFT space might have to do with the lack of a pre-existing collectible culture. They discuss how NFT initiatives from brands like Nike and Adidas were able to leverage collectibility as a key feature of the pre-blockchain sneakerhead culture (for which no Starbucks corollary existed). Lack of any mojo on the collectibility front wasn't the only issue with the Odyssey program. But it's one of several industry and brand-specific nuances that must be taken into consideration before launching an NFT strategy. To watch the video version of this podcast or read its full-text transcript, go to: https://blockchainjournal.com/interview/starbucks-scuttles-odyssey-one-worlds-most-visible-big-brand-blockchain-projects The video can also be watched on Blockchain Journal's YouTube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2F1QcFrhnc