Volvo Installing EV Charging Stations At Starbucks Stores

 

Talk about putting new electricity into your brand.  There is no company that edifies customer relevance better that Starbucks according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Just in case you have not heard, Volvo and Starbucks have struck a partnership to establish the first public electric vehicle charging network at the coffee company's U.S. stores. EV owners traveling within the Western States can soon enjoy a cup of coffee—or tea, or whatever you want—while fast charging their electric cars at Starbucks. Not only will this help Starbucks drive new electricity into its brand messaging it is going to put electricity into you car.  This my friends is what they call supercharged brand marketing.

Most of you know that any driver who has charged their electric vehicle at an out-of-the-way charging station in a questionable location understands how uncomfortable and frustrating that situation can be. Besides grocery and other retail stores, single chargers in ideal places are sometimes hard to come by, and can be well off the beaten path—adding time to an already time-consuming charging process. 

Therefor Volvo is implementing a strategy to bring chargers closer to your daily routine with a more creative approach, and it builds on an emerging trend in the EV space of pairing up charging providers and popular retailers.

Starting this summer, the Swedish automaker plans to install up to 60 Volvo-branded DC fast chargers powered by ChargePoint in at least 15 Starbucks locations. The charging network will cover a 1,350-mile route from the Denver area to Starbucks headquarters in Seattle, Washington. That means a fast-charging station for roughly every 100 miles, which is reasonably within the driving range of most electric vehicles.

Timing is everything and if you are tired of paying a high price for gasoline, it just might be time to buy a new EV, maybe even a Volvo.

According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”  That said, what are you waiting for?

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different. 

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company edify your brand with relevance.  Call 253-759-7869 for more information.