Marketing Through a Coffee Shop

It's not quite about the product, as it is about the way it is presented. 

I am not sure for how long this campaign has been going on, but if you have been to Starbucks in the past year or so, you must have noted the Ragheb Alama CDs on the cashier counter, or the advertising page that displays on their Wi-fi front page.

The Ragheb Alama CD on sale at Starbucks seems to have been launched on November 1st, 2010 (at Starbucks Hamra, for that matter). The campaign is based on a 5-years deal between the two parties, where the Lebanese singer was to present a blend of Western and Eastern music. The CD in question was to be sold, at first, "exclusively" at Starbucks, then made available at Virgin.

Now you might be wondering why this campaign marked me:

1- It runs over a long period of time, in the same outlets, targeting the same group of people, which is likely to produce a high "frequency".

2- It targets a, rather well-defined, specific group of people.

3- As a marketing initiative, comprising both the incentive to buy and the retail outlet, it has a higher likelihood to translate into sales.

4-It is quite an innovative and smart out-of-the-box approach to marketing.

My only concern is whether it serves Starbucks as much as it does Ragheb Alama.