If you’re in tune with social media on any level, odds are you’ve seen pictures of Starbucks latest craze, the Unicorn Frappuccino. You’ll find posts raging about the unhealthy nutrition facts to selfies of Starbucks lovers everywhere showing off their flavor-changing, color-changing magical drink. Whether you’re a fan or not, there’s one thing you can’t deny: Starbucks covered the internet with Unicorn Drinks. But how? Here’s what you can learn from this short craze.
The drink was inspired by the popularity of unicorn-themed trends on social media, especially Apple’s newest unicorn emoji. But with #NationalUnicornDay occurring just 10 days before the launch of the frappuccino, could it be that Starbucks was capitalizing on a trend or was it just coincidence? Either way, the short turn around time on the launch of their drink sure did help grasp the attention of unicorn lovers. Not only did Starbucks use #NationalUnicornDay to their advantage, they also did a great job with making an aesthetically pleasing drink. I mean, look at that thing. Who wouldn’t be interested in trying a pink, purple and blue magically topped with “fairy dust”? Consumers obviously loved the drink because my timeline was filled with the drink. And when I finally got to a Starbucks to try this new drink, they were all sold out and had been just a few hours after launching. Starbucks proves once again that social media can make or break a product.
